


Past Mistakes

by lordtrayus



Series: Mistakes Series [1]
Category: Charmed (TV 1998)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Bashing, F/M, Family, Identity Reveal, Magic, Season/Series 06, The Power of Three (Charmed 1998), Time Travel, Unchanged Future (Charmed 1998)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:34:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 34,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29497380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordtrayus/pseuds/lordtrayus
Summary: Piper's ex Dan stumbles back into her life following her separation from Leo, and she decides to give dating him another shot. However, Chris Perry, in the present and trying to save Wyatt from a future evil, becomes increasingly worried about the woman who will one day become his mother and her relationship with Dan, and fears for his mother while shes with Dan, as he doesnt trust him at all...
Relationships: Chris Halliwell & Piper Halliwell, Dan Gordon/Piper Halliwell, Piper Halliwell/Leo Wyatt
Series: Mistakes Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2166693
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, this is a story series I started some years ago, back when I was still at university, around the same time I wrote the original Two-Pack story so I thought I would dust it off and post it here and see what people think of this story arc, bearing in mind this was years ago and I think I've gotten better since then, but let me know what you think!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper bumps into Dan Gordon, her old flame, and her mysterious whitelighter Chris, from the future, is less than thrilled with this development

Past Mistakes

Piper put another item in her trolley as she and Wyatt went about the shopping. She'd had to get out of the house. With Phoebe in a foul mood due to problems at work as some woman was attacking her in the press every day, and Paige's current temp job being a window cleaner (unluckily the manor was one of the ones she had to clean) and her whitelighter Chris busily looking up yet more demons for them to hunt down, she had been going ever so slightly stir crazy locked up inside, so she had escaped to the supermarket.

As Wyatt cooed in the trolley, Piper cursed as she saw that she was meant to get all bran for Phoebe, which as usual was on the top shelf. Reaching up, she managed to get a box, before she knocked down a box of shredded wheat only for it to be caught by the person strolling past.

Piper's heart froze in her mouth. It was Dan.

Dan, her former neighbour, had been her attempt to have a normal relationship, one that wasn't affected by the duties of a witch and whitelighter, like her relationship with Leo. However, Piper had loved Leo more, and Dan had left the city soon after their break up to take a job in Portland. So what was he doing here?

"Piper, hi." He said with his easy smile.

"Hi Dan, how are you?" she asked, very wrong footed as he gave her cereal back to her.

"Great, and you? And who is this little guy?" Dan asked, crouching down to say hello to Wyatt, who looked back at him curiously.

Fervently hoping that Wyatt wouldn't do his usual trick and make his eyes glow, she smiled.

"This is Wyatt. And yeah, I'm fine. I thought you were in Portland?" she asked as he stood back up to face her.

"Yeah, I'm on a job here, and I'm thinking of taking over a warehouse in the city, you know, to have a base of operations. So what are you doing nowadays?" he asked, his eyes looking at her fingers and seeing the distinct lack of a wedding ring.

"Well I still live in the manor, with Phoebe and Paige." She said, and Dan nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, I heard what happened to Prue, I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral, I was in New York at the time. Who's Paige?" he asked curiously.

"She's my baby sister. We found out about her not long after Prue died." She explained, as Wyatt giggled to himself as Dan started tickling him.

"Cool. Where's Leo?" he asked, indicating the ringless finger, and she sighed.

This was going to be awkward.

"We split up. He had to go away, for work, and seems he's more interested in that than this son." She growled bitterly, silently screaming at her ex husband.

"Oh Piper I'm sorry. I didn't particularly like the guy, but I didn't want him to hurt you. You doing ok?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I keep busy, and I've got Wyatt, and my sisters." She said and Dan nodded.

"Well Piper, like I said I'm in town for a job, do you want to have dinner? Save trying to have a catch up in the middle of the store?" he asked, and she pondered the question.

Meeting up with Dan was dodgy. Leo had been gone for a while, but still, she knew full well how she still felt about him. There was also the magic aspect of things, which she knew from painful experience that Dan would never be able to understand. And there was also the nature of the request. There was a chance that it could be what it sounded, and be two old friends catching up. But then again, it might be more. After all, he said he might be coming back to the city, she knew what he was like, and she wasn't sure she would be opposed to any sort of new relationship with him.

"Yeah, sure. Pick me up at seven?" she asked, and he smiled toothily.

"See you then." He said, smiling at her as she headed to the tills.

She smiled as she pondered what might transpire later that night. Now, who would be the lucky winner of the 'who gets to babysit Wyatt' prize?

XX

"Wait, Dan is back?" Phoebe asked in a teasing voice over the phone, as she had recently gone into the office to try to sort out her problems.

"Yes, he's in town for a job and he asked me out to dinner, and I said yes. Can you watch Wyatt?" she asked hopefully.

"Sorry sweetie, I have no idea how long I'm going to be here, if this woman doesn't stop slating me in her editorial in the Standard then I'm going to have to sue for libel. Elise and me are talking about it later. Ask Paige." She suggested, before hanging up.

Piper cursed at her sister's unhelpfulness. She knew it wasn't Phoebe's fault that this was going on with her career, but she felt a savage bit of pleasure for blaming her for the occurrence. Grumbling to herself, she called Paige.

"Not now Piper! I'm about to die!" Paige wailed down the phone before it cut off.

"Paige? Paige!" Piper said worriedly, barking down the phone her sister's name.

"Don't worry, she's fine." Chris said as he came into the sitting room, and she looked at him searchingly.

"How can you know? How is she about to die?" she wondered, and her whitelighter grinned.

"I can sense her. And she isn't about to die, her only problem is that she's currently cleaning the windows on a high rise and its windy. She's perfectly safe, she's just scared of heights." He soothed, and Piper relaxed a little.

Until she saw a piece of paper in his hand, and immediately pounced.

"Oh no you don't!" she warned, and he looked at her in confusion.

"Huh?"

"No demon vanquishes, not now!" she said, pointing at the paper in his hand.

Chris rolled his eyes.

"It isn't a demon vanquish, it's a shopping list. You need some potion ingredients, I was going to go to China Town and get them for you." He explained, and she blushed a little at her mistake.

"Oh. Sorry. But you can't go to China Town." She said, realising her was her last choice because she really didn't want to call Leo.

"Why not?" he asked suspiciously, his eyes trailing to Wyatt as if figuring out what he was about to be conned into.

"Because I need someone to watch Wyatt." She said, hoping that for a change her whitelighter wouldn't question her reasons as to why she wanted him to babysit.

"Why?" he asked sharply, blowing her hopes out the water.

"Because I have a date, and Phoebe and Paige are both busy." She explained, and Chris glowered at her, his green eyes narrowed dangerously. The look he was giving her was quite familiar but she couldn't place it.

"Wow, so I'm your last resort, now I feel really wanted. Piper, I'm not a babysitter, I'm no good at it." He protested.

"Well you're not very good at being a whitelighter but you don't hear us complaining." She said tartly.

He gave her a reproachful look, and she did have to admit, it tugged her heartstrings a little. Funny, she had never expected to feel bad for insulting Chris, but then again her last comment had been below the belt.

"Actually, I hear you complaining all the time, all three of you. Now, I'm going to China Town. Oh and some advice Piper, if you want someone to help you, don't insult them, especially about a sore subject as it is." He sneered and headed for the door.

"Chris, wait!" she called, and he did stop short, but it was clear from his rigid body language that he wanted nothing more to do with this conversation.

"What?" he asked curtly, his eyes still hurt and angry.

"I'm sorry. That was a pretty low shot. And you may be a pain in the ass with all the demon hunts you send us on, and it might be a pain that you can't heal, but you are a pretty decent whitelighter." She admitted truthfully, and was rewarded by a small blush that appeared on his cheeks.

"Oh...thanks." he said in surprise.

"Please Chris, I'm desperate!" she pleaded, figuring it wouldn't work and she refused to sacrifice her dignity any longer.

But then she saw a curious change in Chris. Rather than resentful, his eyes sort of lit up, as though he wanted to be helpful, and she was reminded of a dog that was proud of itself for bringing its owner the paper.

"Alright, I'll do it. Who's your date with anyway?" he asked as she relaxed and smiled in victory.

"Dan." She said simply.

Chris cast his mind back to everything Phoebe had told him about his mother's younger days when he had been a kid, and it clicked, making his eyes widen in alarm.

"What, dull Dan?" he asked incredulously, and she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean dull?" she asked irritably.

"Well he was the mortal guy wasn't he? The one you hooked up with to make Leo jealous." Chris said, and she narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

"I tried to have a normal relationship with hum, nothing more smart ass. And how do you know?" she asked, suddenly distracted by how much he actually knew.

Chris longed to tell her how he really knew, that her sister had told him everything she could about his mother when he had been a kid so he could use it against her. But, he had to keep up the deception, no matter how much he wanted to just break down and tell his mother everything.

Wyatt came first. As usual.

"We studied you three in Magic School. A semester module was entitled 'The Love Lives of the Charmed Ones'. Someone wrote a ten thousand word thesis on Phoebe's actually." He said, grinning a little. They didn't need to know it was him who had written it.

"You study our love lives? Geez, nothing is sacred in the future! Wait, ten thousand words?" she asked in disbelief, and Chris nodded.

"Yep. They got high marks for it too. They argued that a lot of Phoebe's problems came from her own stupid mistakes, especially becoming the Source's wife. Yeah he influenced her as did the baby, but she could have stopped it long before that. They argued that she brought everything that she blamed Cole for on herself." He elaborated.

Piper wisely kept quiet. Not that she was supporting that statement, but there was a lot more truth to it than there ought to be. Not that she would ever tell Phoebe that.

"That's just too weird to comprehend. Wait, you studied all three of us?" she asked as she headed through to a moaning Wyatt.

"Yeah. You're a lot nicer in books." He said, not entirely untruthfully.

She glowered at him, and he grinned back at his mother. He liked it best when they were like this, when the sisters acted like he was one of them, not just an interloper. When he felt like he actually was part of their family.

"You saying we're not nice?" she demanded and he grinned.

"Yeah. Paige usually is. You it depends on the day. Phoebe never is. And to think, you used to be my favourite to study." Chris said, and she looked at him in surprise.

"Really? Why?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"Can't tell you that, future consequences." He said maddeningly, and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, be that way. And how is Dan dull?" she asked, peeved.

"Oh come on Piper! He was your rebound guy, and you know it. He could never get you the way Leo did." He explained, and she restrained herself from saying something to him that made it clear that she still blamed him for the fact that her husband had left.

"Ah forget it. Right, I have to and get ready. His bottles are in the kitchen, don't let him sleep for more than two hours, change him every so often, don't forget the rash cream, and keep him alive!" she called as she headed for the stairs.

Chris looked at the baby version of his older brother and tucked his hair behind his ear tiredly.

"Keep you alive? Maybe if she'd told you that more often when we were growing up you wouldn't be trying to kill me." He said bitterly, picking his brother up.

It was strange being back here. Back here, his mother and his aunts barely tolerated his presence, and their moods alternated between vaguely accommodating and outright hostile. It had worn him down being here in the past for so long. He had come here to save his big brother. Before he was born, something got to Wyatt, something that left such traumatic scars that when Wyatt had grown up, he had taken it out on the world, a process exacerbated by the loss of their mother when Chris had been fourteen. As Wyatt strengthened his hold and the world plunged further into darkness with the loss of every force of good imaginable, Chris, who continually refused to give in to evil and join his big brother, had hatched a desperate plan to save his brother from evil by coming back to the past and preventing it from happening.

However, it hadn't been nearly as easy as that. Despite telling them repeatedly that he was only there to help protect Wyatt, he had been met with hostility and distrust all the way. True, he hadn't done a lot to help himself, but his actions had all been about protecting Wyatt. Just like they always were. After all, his big brother was the important one. As always.

But still, despite some of his less then savoury acts such as sticking Leo in Valhalla and killing Valkyries, there was still the fact that the sisters didn't trust him because of stupid reasons. He had secrets, who didn't, but the girls and Leo seemed to expect him to drop them all and tell them everything just because they wanted to know. His secrets were his business, and the Charmed Ones and an Elder or not, they had no business asking him to tell them everything about his private life, even if they were family.

In fact, the fact that they were family meant that he wouldn't tell them stuff even if he wanted to anyway. His mother didn't know she was his mother, so he couldn't really tell her anything. Phoebe you couldn't tell anything to anyway, she only kept a secret when it suited her own ends. Paige he supposed he could tell, but she had her own problems trying to find her own path separate from her sisters. And Leo, he would be lucky if he told him the time, never mind anything that was going on inside him.

And so, the mistrust continued, the feeling that he was hardly wanted by anyone here, all because he wouldn't roll over and tell them everything. Yet again he got penalised for trying to protect the ones he loved, trying to spare them pain. Just like what had happened to Paige. His last aunt, he had turned himself in to Wyatt to spare her life, but the treacherous shit had betrayed him and killed her anyway. He had killed the last person he had left aside from him and Bianca, the last person he cared about. Sometimes he really did wonder why he didn't just go with Bianca's original plan and kill the baby he was now entrusted to babysit.

But he couldn't. Despite all he had done, Wyatt was still his brother, and he still loved him. He still remembered the years they had spent together, his big brother both exasperating and understanding, both tormentor and protector, but usually an incredibly overbearing and overprotective protector. His big brother who had adored him, protected him, cared for him, cheered him up when his father let him down for the millionth time, the one who had helped him with homework on the side, the one who with great perseverance had brought Chris out of his shell after they had lost their mother.

That was the big brother he was trying to save. And even though Wyatt came first, as always, he was more than willing to put up with that if it involved him getting his big brother back.

But now he had another problem. Due to his useless father's belligerence, he had had to send Leo to Valhalla, and the other Elders were now insisting that he spend all his time in the heavens in case someone was after him. But, doing what he had did by getting Leo to become an Elder had caused more problems than he had foreseen. He hadn't actually expected Leo to follow the elder's line and remain in the heavens the most of the time. While it did give him a break, because it meant the waste of space wasn't following him and making a pain of himself like he usually was, by splitting up his parents earlier than they had meant to be, his own existence was even now at stake.

First off, his father, useless though he was, was still relatively vital in the whole getting himself conceived process. Secondly, Piper was now dating Dan, arguably her most important relationship other than Leo himself, and if she fell for him again, then there would be no Chris. And thirdly, if they found out who he was, there were no guarantees that Piper would want him anyway.

Her comment earlier had stung. She had always been the one to encourage his whitelighter side, like Paige, his brother and their grandpa. While Leo and Phoebe had focused all of their attention on golden boy Wyatt, they had tried to encourage him to develop his whitelighter side and had always given him a confidence boost when he needed one. When he was continually compared to his 'superior' older brother, he quickly lost confidence in himself. And now his own mother was telling him that he wasn't that good. As if he'd needed reminded. With two dead aunts, a dead mother and a dead grandfather, he'd pretty much grasped how useless a whitelighter he was. He couldn't even help them now when he was in the past. Still a liability, just like Leo had always said, the wanker.

He didn't want to make his mother unhappy again. But, if he was to be born, if he was to save the future, he had to find some way to stop her from getting too close to Dan again. Problem was he didn't have a clue on how to do it. But then, a thought came back to him. Back when he had been studying his mother's second year as a witch, he recalled seeing something about Dan Gordon. And he was sure it wasn't good. What had it been? Arrest, he was sure of it, but what else?

"What do you think?" Piper asked nervously, interrupting him from his thoughts.

Chris looked up at his mother in shock. Clad in a blue dress, her make up done, her eyes a deep pink and her hair styled into a loose flower like bun, she looked amazing. All dressed up for the wrong man in his opinion, but amazing.

"You look great." He said with a smile, and Wyatt nodded his agreement from his playpen.

"Thanks. Have fun you two. Play nice!" she said, waving as she headed for the car that had just pulled up in the street, tooting its horn.

Chris smiled slightly. Play nice? They usually had when they had been kids. Until Chris had beat Wyatt at Pokemon and Wyatt had subsequently orbed him to China. Their mother hadn't been happy when Paige had found him a few hours later.

Chris sighed. His mother was happy for the night, and that was good. She'd been too miserable lately, and he hated that it was his fault. She could have her night with bland Dan. But if he remembered what had happened in the future, he would stop at nothing to protect his mother.

"Come on bro, let's get you fed." Chris said, picking his brother up, while trying to remember what it was that Dan had done in the future that had been so bad.

XX

Piper smiled as Dan walked her to the front door.

"I had a great time catching up tonight Piper. You fancy going out for a drink tomorrow?" Dan asked hopefully.

Piper nodded in concession. She'd had a good time tonight, and Dan hadn't pressed for too much information on her and Leo, or on Wyatt. It was nice to be on a normal date again, with a normal person, who also happened to be a very nice guy. He wasn't bad looking either.

"Yeah of course. I had a great time tonight too Dan. I'm glad you're back." She said, and leaned towards him, and he reciprocated.

The door then opened and Chris appeared, carrying Wyatt and looking at her with a smug grin. He knew full well what he had just interrupted. But strangely, she wasn't mad at him for it. Kissing Dan would have been too soon, given the wrong impression. If he really was back, and for good, then she wanted to do this properly.

"Wyatt senses his mommy had come home." Chris said, grinning at her, and she gave him a reluctant grin back as she took Wyatt from him.

"Sure he did." She whispered scathingly, but Chris transformed his face into a mask of innocence.

"Hi. I'm Chris H-Perry." He said, catching himself just in time, but he refused to offer his hand to the man who was trying to steal his mother and above all else make sure he wasn't born.

"Dan Gordon." Dan said good naturedly, before lowering his hand awkwardly when he saw Chris had no intention of shaking his hand.

Piper gave Chris a scolding look, but he shrugged slightly, making her roll her eyes while Wyatt smiled to see Dan.

"So you're this little guys babysitter?" Dan asked, making faces at Wyatt.

"For tonight. Usually I just help around the house." Chris said, and Piper began to scent danger, and she knew she had to get her whitelighter into the house as soon as possible.

"Like a handyman?" Dan asked cautiously, and Chris nodded.

"Yeah you could say that." Chris said coldly, his brilliant green eyes narrowed, and Piper watched as he took a step forward that actually shielded her and Wyatt from Dan.

Dan nodded, glaring at Chris suspiciously.

"Well I'll see you around. Night Piper." He said, kissing her on the cheek before heading for his car.

"Goodnight. Thanks for dinner!" she called as he climbed in, then turned to glare at Chris.

"What was that about?" she asked irritably.

"I don't know what you mean Piper. Just..." he began, and she looked at him grumpily, waiting for his explanation, "watch yourself with him ok? Something about him isn't right." Chris said worriedly, his face clouded.

Piper felt her irritation with him melt. Bless him.

"I'm a big girl Chris. I don't need my whitelighter to protect me from the big bad men of the world. See you tomorrow." She said, and kissed him on the cheek before heading inside with her baby.

Chris pondered. Something just felt off about Dan. He could feel it. But he had made his mother happy, so maybe he would back off. But it didn't hurt to be vigilant. And his first order of business was to find out exactly what Dan had done in the future that he had been arrested for.

XX

Dan thought about the night's events. He had forgotten how much he loved about Piper. Her laugh, her smile, her beauty, her drive. She had clearly gotten more wilful and independent since Prue had died, but that just made him love her even more.

Ever since he had left, he had regretted not fighting harder for her, not fighting Leo. And now he had found out that her former handyman had married her, got her knocked up, and then ran off once the baby was born. He knew Leo was bad news. Classic dead beat dad. He had warned Piper, four years ago, just what would happen if she continued on her relationship with Leo. He took a small bit of pleasure from having been right, but he did wish Piper hadn't gotten hurt as a result of Leo's actions.

He would treat her right. Wyatt too. He seemed like a good kid.

But who was the young man Piper had gotten to watch Wyatt? He clearly didn't like Dan for some reason. Did he want Piper to himself? No, that didn't seem to be it. But he seemed protective of her. But he had seen Piper hurt by someone like that before. And he refused to allow it to happen again.

He would protect Piper. And first that meant finding out exactly what Chris Perry was hiding.

Smiling, he vowed to phone his state department working brother when he got home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Chris doesnt trust Dan at all, and the feeling is certainly mutual but what does this mean for Piper's relationship with Dan?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper and Dan continue to rekindle their romance, and Dan and Chris mistrust of each other deepens

Past Mistakes

Try as he might, Chris couldn't remember what it was Dan had done in the future, and so, he had, reluctantly, let the matter go. Besides, he was back in town for a while, and his mother seemed happy to have him around. While this made Chris slightly happy, as he felt he had caused her nothing but misery since he had arrived here, it was also with a growing sense of trepidation that he saw how close she and Dan were becoming. After all, a guy had to get conceived, and he would find it rather difficult to do that if his mother shacked up with another bloke. As such, he decided to adopt a more diplomatic approach to the affair.

"Don't you think it's going a little too fast?" he asked as he watched his mother get ready, his little big brother in his arms as he did so.

Piper gave him an amused smile.

"What is the matter with you? Ever since Dan showed up you've been acting like a mother hen." She said, and Chris rolled his eyes. She was a fine one to talk. He'd had a friend who was a girl when he was twelve, and, being incredibly overprotective, she had scared the living daylights out of the girl thinking she was his first girlfriend.

"There's just something I don't like about him, that's all." He protested, and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What's not to like?" she asked in confusion as she put on her lipstick, sighing in irritation as Chris shook his head to keep her away from a deep red.

"He's, I don't know, I think he's too perfect. He has one of those annoying 'I'm so great, everyone look at me' smiles that just make you want to punch him." He grumbled and Piper laughed. He smiled a little. It had been a while since he had made her laugh.

"Let me guess...you're a younger sibling?" she asked, and he froze, fearing she was on to him.

"Um, yeah, why?" he asked nervously.

"Because I used to want to knock Prue's teeth out because everyone thought she was so great. Dan isn't that bad Chris. He's a nice guy." She assured him, and he looked down at the floor.

"I'm just...worried about you." He said softly, and she smiled at him.

"You are sweet. Right, be good. Paige should be home soon, so if you want to foist Wyatt off on her, you can. See you later." She said, and kissed him on the cheek.

Chris watched as his mother left the room. She had been in such good spirits since Dan had come back. But he knew that he would eventually have to ruin her life yet again if he wanted to be born. Either way, there was still something he didn't quite like about Dan. It wasn't loyalty to his father, he knew that much. But something about Dan just ran wrong with him. Perfect hair, perfect chin, perfect personality...

"Alright bro, why don't we see what aunt Paige has to say when she comes home?" he asked, and his brother looked at him curiously.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. There was a time when you wanted a baby brother. You still do, in an evil, twisted sort of way. So if you want me, you better buckle up and help me, got it?" he asked, and to his surprise, Wyatt agreed with a nod.

"That's alright then." He said, and took his brother downstairs.

XX

"I'm glad I got you away from the house. There's something I wanted to talk to you about." Dan said nervously, and Piper hesitated as she poked her salmon en croute.

What could this be about? Was he leaving early? She hoped not, she was enjoying herself, spending time with him, being treated well and spoiled a little, and not having to worry about the other man in her life. Or...well it was Dan. And she knew he had her best interests at heart. Which meant this was probably something to do with Chris.

"It's about the guy you have at the house. Are you sure you can trust him?" he asked, and Piper hesitated before she answered.

There was a loaded question. While he said he was here to help them protect Wyatt, which she did believe, and while he seemed nice enough and dedicated to what he was doing, there was the fact that some of his methods were a little questionable. And there was also the fact that he refused to tell them anything about the future or anything that he was hiding.

"Yes, I'm sure." She said loyally, her voice not entirely as firm as she would have liked it to be.

Dan leaned closer to her, and looked around.

"Now, don't get mad, but when I saw him the other day, I got a little worried. I know it's like a broken record Piper, but he just didn't seem right, so I asked my brother to check up on Chris. I'm only doing it to protect you." He said, and Piper constrained the urge to roll her eyes.

His brother won't have found anything. After all, as far as they knew, the kid hadn't even been born yet, which she supposed added another mystery to the enigma that was Chris. Why would he come back to before he was born to save someone he had no connection to?

"And?" she asked in a bored voice.

"There isn't any record of a Christopher Perry anywhere."

Well duh. He wasn't born yet.

"Dan...I know you're only doing it to look out for me, and I appreciate it. Really I do. But Chris is harmless. He's just a kid from out of town who's helping out, that's all. He's sort of named himself Wyatt's bodyguard."

Dan nodded, but still looked suspicious.

"So you're just letting some random kid stay with you?" he asked, and Piper could tell he was thinking about Leo.

"Dan, this isn't like with Leo. I'm not in love with Chris or anything, so stop worrying. He's just a kid who wants to help, and since he can't go back home," she realised she'd have to explain that, "since his family have kicked him out because he's the only decent one, he's staying here. Nothing more than that." She said, and Dan looked concerned, but nodded reluctantly.

"All right. If you're sure he's trustworthy, then fine." He said, but his worried expression remained.

They had dinner, and he still seemed slightly distracted when he dropped her off after their movie later that night. She entered to find Chris reading a story to Wyatt, despite her telling him he should have been put down for the night hours ago.

Suddenly she was annoyed with him. He hadn't done what she had told him, and because of him, her date with Dan had had a pall cast over it. She knew the last bit wasn't his fault, but still, it reminded her of the many reasons she was initially reluctant to have him around. He just seemed to mess things up by being here.

"How was your date?" he asked as she came into the living room.

"Oh fine, expect he's concerned about you." She answered shortly, and he looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and she narrowed her eyes as she took Wyatt from him without ceremony.

"I mean he thinks you're up to something, that you can't be trusted. He's also discovered that you don't exist, and is concerned about it." She said as Wyatt yawned widely.

Chris cast his eyes down. That was something else he would be getting blamed for then.

"I'm sorry Piper." He said, casting his eyes down.

"Well you should be. I told you to put him down hours ago, why didn't you?" she asked him sharply, and Chris glared at her angrily.

"I did put him down, but he wouldn't go to sleep, so I told him a story to make him drop off." He snapped.

Why was she treating him like this was his fault? It was nothing to do with him, the fact that her new boyfriend was a jealous, possessive idiot.

"Oh." Piper said, the wind taken out of her sails, but Chris continued to glare at her.

"You know Piper, I'm only trying to help. And I'm sorry your ass of a boyfriend obsessed over me all night, but that isn't my fault. Neither is the fact that Wyatt didn't go to sleep when I put him down. But just like everything else that goes wrong in this place, it's all my fault. Tell you what. Next time you need someone to babysit so you can go out and relive old times with that idiot, don't call me." He said angrily, and orbed out before she could stop him.

Piper sighed. She had been unfair, she knew that. Like he said, it wasn't his fault that Dan couldn't let things go, or that Wyatt had been fussy. Did he really feel like they blamed him for everything? She supposed sadly that he could be quite justified in thinking that. She would make it up to him tomorrow. And maybe talk to Dan about loosening up a bit.

XX

Chris woke late the next day, his anger still simmering in the general direction of his mother. He grunted and was about to go out to get a shower, when he saw Dan sitting in the middle of P3, waiting for him.

"Chris, I thought we could have a little talk." Dan said, pointing to the chair beside him.

Chris narrowed his eyes angrily. First of all, he shouldn't be here at all, the club wasn't meant to open for hours. Secondly, it was his mother's club, not his, so who the hell did he think he was telling her son what to do? The fact that she didn't know he was her son was irrelevant, Dan still had no business being in here or telling him what to do.

"How did you get in here?" he asked coldly, remaining where he was, and pulling a tshirt over his bare torso.

"One of the barhands let me in, they're doing a stocktake in the back, and they recognised me. Sit down." Dan said, his tone polite but the look in his eyes was anything but.

"Think I'll stay where I am thanks." Chris growled, and Dan stood, coming over to him.

"What's your deal with Piper?" he demanded, coming a little too close for Chris' liking, so he stepped back, green eyes narrowed dangerously.

"That's none of your business. But you can relax Romeo, I don't fancy her or anything." He sneered, and Dan glowered at him.

"Actually, it is my business. I care about her too much to let anyone hurt her." He said, and Chris rolled his eyes.

"Believe me pal, I'll care more about Piper than you or Leo ever could." He said, the image of his mother's dead body haunting behind his eyes, the devastation he had felt when he had lost her threatening to overwhelm him.

"Somehow I doubt that." Dan said coldly.

"Look Dan, what do you want? I've got stuff to do." Chris growled, and Dan flexed his fingers.

"You ought to learn a little respect kid." He said coldly, and Chris rolled his eyes.

"You sound like my dad. News flash. You want to get me to do something, don't act like him. I hated my father." He said savagely.

"Figures. What I want is for you to leave Piper alone. Go home. Get out of her life, she can do without you." He said, and Chris was astounded by the sheer cheek and rudeness of this guy. What the hell did she see in him?

"Who the hell do you think you are? I have a job to do, and I'm not going to leave just because her new boyfriend asked me to. And besides, I can't and won't go home." He said stubbornly.

Dan nodded.

"Alright Chris. Let's just leave it there. But if you keep hanging round, I'm going to be on your case. I saw Piper get hurt by someone she trusted once before, and I refuse to let it happen again. Got it?" he asked.

"Got it. But..." Chris said, as Dan had turned away, and now he was forced to turn back, "you hurt Piper and I'll make you regret it." He vowed, and Dan gave him a smug grin.

"I'm scared. Later." He said, giving him a curt nod as he walked towards the entrance.

Chris glowered at Dan's retreating back. Arrogant asshole, implying he didn't care about his mother. Who the hell did he think he was? He wouldn't tolerate that crap from Leo, and he sure as hell wasn't going to tolerate it from some jumped up mortal with paranoia.

But the fact remained that Dan had just threatened him. He wished he could remember what Dan had done in the future. Cursing his own lack of memory, he headed for the shower. Maybe a look at Dan's file would provide him with a clue. Darryl would help, he knew it.

XX

"Honey, I know you like him, but don't you think you're moving a tiny bit too fast? He only came back a few days ago, and you want to bring him home?" Paige asked sceptically as her sister pottered around in the kitchen.

Piper smiled slightly.

"You sound like Chris. He's worried about me too." She said teasingly, laughing at the look of outrage on her sister's face as she said it.

"I am not like him! How, what's he saying?" she asked curiously, and Piper shrugged.

"Much the same things as you are. But Paige, it's different with Dan. We know everything about each other, and we're reconnecting." She explained, until Paige looked at her sadly.

"Yeah, he knows everything except from the fact that you're a witch and Wyatt's Twice Blessed." She said, and Piper frowned.

Yeah, there was that.

"I know." She said sadly.

"Chris might be right. And whatever else we think of him, its clear he just wants you to be ok." Paige said, and Piper winced.

"Maybe not so much anymore." She said sheepishly, and Paige raised an eyebrow at her expectantly.

"Well last night, he still had Wyatt up when I came in, because Wyatt hadn't settled, but I got all bitchy with him for that. And I was annoyed that Dan had spent the night obsessing over him when we were on our date and I sort of took it out on him. So, can you watch Wyatt tonight?" she asked hopefully, and Paige looked uncertain.

"Sorry Piper, but I'm on my new temp job today, I'm working in a bar all night." She said guiltily.

"And there's no point asking Phoebe, she's too obsessed with this libel thing she's got going on."

"You could always ask Leo." Paige suggested, but Piper shook her head.

"No, I wouldn't do that to him, especially when it's Dan I'm seeing. Dad's out of town and Darrly and Sheila are going to the theatre tonight." She said, and Paige smiled, knowing the only choice her sister had left.

"Well then, you're just going to have to apologise to Chris then aren't you?" she asked smugly, and Piper sighed.

"Yeah I suppose so. He might not want to hear it though." She said, and Paige rolled her eyes.

"Give him a break Piper. He was doing something nice for you, letting you do what you wanted, and all of a sudden you're attacking him for what probably seemed like no good reason. He's entitled to be a little pissed off." She said, and Piper supposed she had a point.

And she did feel guilty. Maybe apologising would make her feel better.

XX

"Hey Chris, what can I do for you?" Darryl asked as Chris approached him in the police file.

Chris had always gotten on with Darryl. Aside from Henry, he'd been his favourite uncle. Coop was too much of a sell out to his wife, who Chris had fought with even before coming to the past.

"I know you're not allowed to do it, and I know it's asking a lot, but could I possibly look at someone's file?" he asked hopefully.

Darryl's eyes widened in surprise, and Chris supposed that whatever he'd been expecting to hear, that hadn't been it.

"You know I can't just let you take a look at someone's file just because you want to look! What's this about anyway? A demon the girls are looking for?" he muttered, and Chris shook his head.

"No, not this time. This is strictly me. And we doubt that he's a warlock or a demon, he's just a jerk." Chris said, and Darryl looked at him curiously.

"Really? Who?" he asked, as this sounded much more like a normal case, which was refreshing when he dealt with the sisters.

"Dan Gordon." Chris spat bitterly, and Darryl racked his brains for the information.

"Wait, the guy Piper dated?" he asked, and Chris nodded grimly.

"And is dating again, even though he's a jealous, obsessive, paranoid jerk." Chris said sourly.

"Jealous?" Darryl asked after a moment.

"Why does everyone assume that? No, I'm not jealous. I'm just, protective of her that's all." He said, and Darryl chuckled.

"Seems fair. Alright, hang on." He said, and entered the data onto his computer, bringing up Dan's file.

"Nothing here of any interest to you buddy, not so much as a parking ticket...hmm, that's odd." Darryl said musingly.

"What is?" Chris asked, and Darryl pointed at the screen, and Chris bent over him to check it out.

"Turns out he was meant to be involved in a court case, but suddenly the case was dropped. Doesn't say why it was dropped or what position he was in though." Darryl said, trying to access the file with no success.

"Hmm...ok, thanks Darryl. If you find anything else out, can you tell me?"

"Yeah sure."

"Thanks." Chris said and left the office.

That was what he liked about Chris. Unlike the girls and Leo, he always said thank you. Bless him. His mother did a good job on him. Smiling, he got back to work.

XX

"Aren't you worried about her Paige?" Chris asked as he met her in town for lunch, and was pleasantly surprised when she bought him a wrap for lunch.

"Slightly. I think she's going so fast with Dan because she wants to get over Leo as soon as possible." She explained, and Chris frowned.

He supposed that made sense. And typically, meant it was his fault. Just like everything that was wrong in their lives was.

"I just don't like him. Something is off about him." He said, tucking in to his chicken wrap.

"Off how?" Paige asked, consuming her own falafel wrap.

"I don't know. He's just one of those annoying, perfect people who thinks they're so great and feel the need to interfere in anything and everything. He had his brother check me out." He said, and the response he got from her wasn't the one he had expected.

"You should be flattered, older man..." she said teasingly, and he glared at her.

"Not like that! No! He got him to check me out within the state department, and surprise surprise I don't exist." He said, and she did take it seriously this time, looking concerned.

"You reckon he could expose us?" she asked uncertainly, and he shrugged.

"He could do, or at least expose me, and then that will lead back to you." He said, and she pondered how the hell they would explain about a kid who hadn't even been born yet if the press came calling.

"Hmm. Look Chris, I know you're worried about her, but she's a big girl, she can look after herself." She assured him.

Chris fought down a sigh. He knew part of his problem with Dan was the fact that he needed to get himself conceived, which couldn't happen if his mother was shacked up with Dan, but still there was something else that was making him nervous about Dan, and not just the conversation this morning or the event in the future that he couldn't remember.

He then heard a jingle, and sighed.

"Great, round two. Place your bets." He grumbled.

"You'll be fine. And she knows she treated you unfairly last night. Just go and talk to her. I'll see you later ok?" she asked, and he nodded, before giving a look around and orbing out.

XX

"I'm sorry Chris. I shouldn't have taken it out on you, I know you were only trying to help." She said, and he shrugged slightly.

"It's ok. Are you seeing him tonight?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yes I am." She said simply, and seeing where this conversation might very well end up, he decided to steer away from it.

"Piper, I'm sorry, but I just have a bad feeling about him. And besides, you know full well that he won't be able to accept the witch thing." He said, and she turned, her eyes hard.

"Yeah, well I don't care what you think about him Chris. I'm dating him, he isn't dating you, so why can't you just let me be happy?" she demanded, and he flinched, hurt.

Did she actually think he didn't want her to be happy? She was his mother, of course he wanted her to be happy, but preferably with a guy that he liked. And he knew that Dan was bad news. He couldn't figure out how, but he was.

"What? How can you even suggest that?" he demanded, his tone hurt and angry as he glowered at her.

"Well I don't know. Maybe because you took my husband away. Maybe because you keep telling me someone is after my son. And maybe because you're interfering with my relationship with Dan." She said scathingly, and while he was hurt, he was also angry.

"Firstly, your saintly husband didn't actually have to accept the promotion, he could have stayed down here but he put his job over you. Secondly, someone is always after Wyatt, so me telling you shouldn't be a bad thing but a good thing. And thirdly, I'm just trying to protect you!" he shouted, and he could see that she was slightly taken aback by his retort. Good, he thought savagely.

"I don't need protected Chris. Why is everyone trying to protect me all of a sudden? Aren't I one of the most powerful witches in the world?" she demanded.

"The best." He said loyally, and her face softened slightly at that.

"Exactly. I think I can handle an overprotective boyfriend without assistance Chris, ok?" she asked, her tone less harsh than it had been before.

"I'm just worried you're falling for him too fast Piper." He said desperately, and she sighed.

"Like I told Paige, it's not like it would normally be. We're starting again, and we already knew a lot about each other. And he actually treats me good, he's been great. Can't you just be happy for me?" she asked, and he looked down sadly, and she could tell that she had hurt him by implying he didn't want her to be happy.

"Of course I want you to be happy." He said softly, and she nodded, satisfied.

"Well there you are then." She said with satisfaction.

"Want me to watch Wyatt?" he asked, and she looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected him to offer, especially with the way she had just attacked him.

"Yeah, sure, that would be great." She said, and he nodded and went to get him.

Why was Chris so dead set against Dan? Dan was a great guy. Good looking, he treated her very well, he was kind, almost perfect actually. So why was Chris so opposed to him?

She pondered this question as she got ready for yet another date.

XX

Dan was standing on the other side of the door when Chris opened it, as Piper was still getting ready.

"I thought I told you I didn't want you hanging around Piper anymore." He said as if in greeting, shouldering past Chris.

Chris resisted the urge to knock him on his ass by flicking him out of the house. Jerk.

"Look Dan, I told you, I'm not going anywhere. So you might as well live with that because it isn't going to change." Chris said.

Dan gave him a small smile, then shoved him against the wall, and suddenly it clicked why Dan had been arrested in the future. Domestic violence, he had nearly killed the woman he had been with at the time. Dan forced himself closer to Chris, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You don't get it do you? I'm dating Piper, and something makes me think she'll take me over you. So, if I go on about it long enough, she will get rid of you. I want you gone. I'm not going to let you hurt her. I did that with Leo and I refuse to allow that to happen to her again. I won't let you hurt her." He snarled.

"You really don't get it do you? I would never hurt Piper." Chris protested, which wasn't strictly true. Apparently, giving birth to him had been a nightmare. But it wasn't as if he could do anything about that.

"Make sure that you don't. And I better not see you around here again." Dan warned, letting go of Chris.

Chris glowered.

"You can't tell me what to do." He spat venomously, and Dan shrugged.

"No. But I can imply it. I'm with Piper, and no matter how much you don't like me, I'm here to stay." He said smugly, pulling his hair behind his ears, making him once more look like perfection, and he knew it.

Chris didn't see that though. All he saw was a vain, vapid thug, who was now dating his mother. He had to protect her. Because if Dan laid one finger on her, there would be no telling what he would do to him.

"If you ever hurt her-" Chris warned, and Dan raised an eyebrow.

"Me? No Chris. You're the one who might hurt her. I never will." He said, glaring at the younger man.

"If you hurt her I will kill you." Chris vowed, his green eyes narrowed in intense dislike.

Piper came down the stairs at that moment, and kissed Dan in welcome. Chris looked on in despair. He remembered it all now. Dan was violent, angry, beneath his so called perfect exterior. And his mother was right in his firing line.

He knew that Dan probably had been a decent guy once. But losing Piper to Leo had made him angry and bitter, and he had just gotten worse over the years, and when he found out his wife had been cheating on him, with a man who treated her with respect and not like a prize, he had been furious and had nearly beat her to death. And now Piper was in danger.

"Thanks for this Chris. See you later." She said with a smile, before heading for the door.

"Piper..." Chris protested as Dan linked his arm within hers, and she looked at him curiously.

Dan however glowered furiously, and Chris felt his voice fail him. He couldn't accuse him without proof. After all, give her a choice between her annoying whitelighter who she blamed for everything that went wrong and the man she was all too quickly falling back in love with, he was bound to lose. Hating himself, he looked at her.

"Have fun." He said softly, and Dan gave him a self satisfied grin as they left the house.

Chris thought. His mother was in trouble. Dan could hurt her. This was more than getting himself conceived now. He had to make sure Dan didn't hurt her, had to protect his mother. He had failed that once, and he had lost her. He wouldn't do it again. Dan. The threat to getting him convceived, the arrogant smug Mr Perfect that his mother had tried to fill the void in her heart with once before, and now he remembered just what he was capable of. He remembered his mother reading the paper that morning and being sickened by what he had become. He had to save her, prevent it from happening. Even if it meant his own existence was erased. Wyatt was important, sure. But his mother was even more important.

But if he was going to do this, he would need help. He needed Paige and Phoebe. Maybe even Leo. He knew one thing though. The bastard wouldn't get his mother or hurt her without a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as everyone (except Piper apparently) could have predicted, Dan is so suspicious of Chris that he wants him out of Piper's life. But just what's going on there, is Chris right to mistrust him, and if he's right, can he protect his mother from a potnetially dangerous boyfriend?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris tries to enlist his aunts help to make sure Dan isnt a threat to his mother, and Dan forces Piper to make a fateful decision, and the sister's bond is tested

Past Mistakes

"Phoebe, will you please just listen to me, just this once?" Chris asked in exasperation as he stood in her office at the newspaper.

"Chris, I'm about to get involved in a court case, I don't have time for demon hunts." Phoebe said sharply, typing furiously on her pc as she did so.

Chris rolled his eyes. His temperament being akin to his aunt Prue's he had always been fairly short tempered with Phoebe. He thought she was selfish and irresponsible, caring about herself first and everyone else second. There was also the fact that, like his father, when he had been growing up she had been the one to obsess over Wyatt, making a fuss over him and every time she saw them she made no bones about the fact that Wyatt was her favourite, suggesting how Chris should become more like his big brother by taking up sports and changing his style and stopping being such a nerd. She had annoyed his mother and his brother endlessly with her blatant disregard for him. One day, Phoebe had suggested that Chris ought to spend less time with his big brother (who was still good at the time) in order to allow his brother to focus on better things, and he had finally snapped, before his mother and brother had gotten there.

" _Shut up! I'm not Wyatt! I'm Chris! Your other nephew! I know you don't think I'm as good or as special or as important as he is, and to be quite frank, I don't care! I'm my own person! I'm not going to do all the stuff you want me to do just because you want me to be like Wyatt! Who do you think you are, telling me how to live my life? I like learning, reading, playing video games, he likes to play sports. I don't! But you can't seem to get that through your thick head! I am not him! You and your sisters were all different, so are we! So I won't go and do everything you want just so I can be like precious Wyatt, I'm going to be my own person, and you're just going to have to accept it!"_

" _Excuse me young man, I am your aunt..."_

" _And he's right to talk to you like that." Piper had said, in a soft, deadly voice._

_Phoebe's look of anger suddenly faltered and she looked fearfully at her older sister, who was glaring daggers at her._

" _Every time you come over, you make a big fuss of how good Wyatt is. Chris won an award for writing excellence last week, and a history award out of the entire year, and you couldn't care less. Because he isn't Wyatt. Because he wasn't your precious first born nephew, you didn't care. For years, all I've heard from you when you talk to him is 'do this like Wyatt does' or 'Wyatt can do this, why can't you', and I'm sick of it Phoebe! Stop telling my son how to live his life! He needs to be defined as something other than Wyatt's little brother, and if that's the way he goes about it, then so be it! He is just as good as Wyatt in some things, and better in others, but you never seem to notice that!" Piper roared, and Phoebe stood back, flabbergasted that her sister had turned on her._

" _Well I know Chris can do things, it's just..."_

" _Just you'd rather have another me, not Chris. You're as bad as Leo." Wyatt sneered, having stopped calling Leo 'dad' the last time he had come down and had once more broken Chris' heart._

" _Wyatt that isn't..."_

" _It is Phoebe. Its always been about what you want, always what you want to happen, always you we have to care about before everyone else. You want another version of Wyatt, so you try to change Chris to be like him. It's always been about what you want, you, you, you! Cole, that was about you. Me and Leo getting married, when he proposed you somehow managed to twist it into becoming all about you, you getting hurt, your feelings! When I cam back from up there, it was about how you were mad that you'd had to cover, while I spent most of my early life cleaning up your mistakes, and I still had to do it when I was a witch too! Your damn demonic husband, who you kept alive so you could be happy, who you went to go and 'rescue' while Prue and I died up here, and it was all about you, and then when he turned evil again, I had to clean up after you, putting my life on hold for you! All because what Phoebe wants, Phoebe must always have and damn the consequences! Remember Billie and Christ, before we killed them? You weren't here when we needed you all because you had get back to your condo! I'm all for having a life of your own, but we were in danger, but because you needed to live in your condo, we nearly died! It's always been the same with you Phoebe, you've never changed. Now, I want you out of my house. Chris will make his own way in the world. If he wants to be like Wyatt, that's fine. But if he doesn't want to be like Wyatt, I'm not going to let anyone bully him into being like his brother!" Piper roared, and Chris used his telekinesis to throw open the door._

" _I'm not Wyatt. Never will be. You might as well accept it. You have two nephews Phoebe. But they're not two the same. And until you learn that, we have nothing more to say to each other." Chris said angrily, and Phoebe looked around at the hostile faces of her sister and nephews, choked back tears and headed for the door, head bowed and muttering that they had it all wrong, wringing her hands while she did so._

" _Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" Wyatt called savagely, earning him a reproving look from their mother, which was slightly offset by the small smile on her face._

" _Thanks." Chris said quietly._

" _No worries bro. You be whoever you want to be." Wyatt said coming to his brother's side._

" _I wish everyone didn't think I was a pathetic waste of space because I'm not as good as you." Chris had said softly, and Wyatt had hugged him to him._

" _I don't think you're pathetic, or a waste of space." He assured his brother, hugging him fiercely._

_Piper smiled and kissed both her boys on the head._

" _And neither do I. And besides peanut, you can still cook better than Phoebe and Wyatt." She said with a wink, and he had grinned._

Of course, that was the last time his mother had seen her sister. A few weeks later, Piper had been killed by the demon, and Phoebe, still stropping and as usual thinking she had done nothing wrong, hadn't talked to her before then, and after that it was too late. But, after they had lost Piper, she and Chris had finally started to develop a relationship, and while they still fought a little, they had become so much closer...until Wyatt had killed her for everything she had used to say about Chris.

"It's not demons I'm worried about, it's Dan." Chris said grouchily, and that finally attracted her attention at least.

"Really, why?" she asked in confusion, and Chris ploughed on.

"Something isn't right with him. He's, I don't know, just incredibly obsessive and possessive of Piper, I'm afraid he might, you know, hurt her." He said, not wanting to divulge to his least favourite aunt that Dan had threatened him in P3 and in the manor.

Phoebe threw back her head and laughed, and he did have to smile a little. He'd never made his aunt laugh like that before. True she was ignoring him, but at least he had cheered her up.

"Oh Chris, thank you, I needed that. Chris, you don't need to worry about Dan. He's a nice, hot," she said, eyes glazing over slightly, "guy. He wouldn't hurt Piper." She said plainly, in one of the nicest voices she had ever used with him.

"Phoebe, I have a bad feeling about the guy. Can't you just check him out with your empathy voodoo?" he asked, wiggling his fingers, and she smiled a little.

"Chris, he isn't a demon, he isn't a warlock. We went down that road with him four years ago. There's nothing wrong with Dan." She said, and he raised his eyebrow and folded his arms defiantly.

"Oh, you mean other than the fact that when he finds out about her being a witch he'll either run for the hills, or run to the press?" he asked irritably, and she sighed, looking up at him.

"Chris, I know you're only doing this because you're worried about Piper. But she's a big girl. She can look after herself." She assured him, but Chris shook his head stubbornly.

"I'm not doubting that she can. I'm just, afraid she's setting herself up to get hurt, I think she's falling for him too fast." He explained, and Phoebe shook her head.

"You don't know her like I do Chris. There isn't anything to worry about." She said, and he opened his mouth to protest again, when she raised her hand.

"Nope! No more about it, now I need to read up on libel laws."

Chris growled to himself in frustration. Typical Phoebe, focus on herself while burying her head in the sand to avoid what was going on around her in case she got her feelings hurt. Resisting the urge to knock some sense into the damned woman, he orbed to find Paige.

He had to convince someone that Dan was bad news.

XX

Dan smiled as he saw that Chris wasn't in the manor. Good. Now with the brat out of the way, he and Piper could finally be left in peace, pick up where they had left off four years ago. Nothing would get in his way, nothing would prevent him from having the relationship they had deserved before Leo had stolen him from her. He would treat her right, treat her properly, make sure she wanted for nothing. They could be happy together.

But there was something about Chris that kept niggling in his mind. Something that reminded him all too much of Leo. He couldn't take the chance of losing Piper again. She deserved perfection, she deserved him. And he knew that Chris would be back sooner or later. So how could he go about getting Chris out of the picture for good?

Piper and Wyatt deserved a decent guy who would look after them, care for their every need, while making sure they didn't get too involved in anything bad, who kept them from the dangers of the world. He was that guy, he knew it. But Chris represented a threat to his plans for Piper, the life he planned to live with her. If he convinced her to move to Portland with him, as he intended, he would have nothing to fear. But until then, he had to make sure nothing interfered with his plans. Piper was really enjoying herself with him, and Wyatt loved spending time with him too. That was good. A proper little family. He would show he was better than Leo, taking in another guy's kid. But Chris still presented a problem. He seemed to think he was out to hurt the woman he loved. So, that had to be rectified.

Dan recalled the hesitancy in Piper's voice when he had asked if she could trust Chris. That was the way in. He had a feeling that many of them wouldn't bat an eyelid if Chris was forced to leave the picture. He had it.

XX

Paige, currently working at the zoo and at this precise moment, being outwitted by penguins that she was trying to corral, groaned in exasperation as Chris orbed in, miraculously avoiding the pile of bird droppings she had just shovelled.

"Aww penguins! Cool!" he said with a grin as he saw them, and Paige looked at him in surprise, seeing him act like a normal kid was such a change.

"No, not cool, not when you're trying to round them up and get them outside into the pond for the parade they do." She said irritably, and Chris grinned.

"How can you not think penguins are cool? Look at them! Look at the cool little dude with the yellow hair." He said, pointing to a Marconi penguin who was gazing at him curiously.

"You've flipped, you know that right? And you're not meant to be in here." She said, wagging her finger at him, and he shrugged.

"No one will know, the public can't see, and any other works need to come through this door. And the penguins won't tell anyone will you?" Chris asked to a large Emperor Penguin, who gave a squawk of agreement as he waddled past to join the others.

Paige had to admit he had a point. And chasing the little critters around the cage was very tiring. She could do with a break.

"Anyway, what's up? Because if it's a demon hunt, I'm there if it'll get me out of this smelly cage." Paige said, and Chris nodded, his nose wrinkled.

"Yeah, I will admit, penguins are smelly." He said as a little penguin dropped a rock at his foot, which he picked up to the penguin's approval. Chris then flicked a fish from the bin, and the penguin gobbled it right up.

"So what is it?" Paige asked, and he smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, it isn't a demon hunt." He said, and her face fell slightly. How sad was that, she wanted to fight demons to escape smelly penguins.

"What is it then?" she asked shooing a penguin back into their large indoor pool.

"Dan. I think he's trouble." Chris said, and Paige sighed.

"Chris, I know you think she's falling too hard and too fast but she can look after herself. Dan's a nice guy, I've met him." She said, but Chris shook his head stubbornly.

"A nice guy who has a habit of sticking his nose where it doesn't belong and into other people's business. Huh, come to think of it, that would explain why Phoebe likes him, he's just like her." He said tartly, and she had to admit, he did kinda have a point.

"What's your problem with him? Don't you want Piper to be happy?" she asked in exasperation, and he looked at her, hurt.

"Why does everyone assume that?" he asked, looking seriously put out by the accusation, and she felt really bad about saying it all of a sudden.

"Chris..." she began, but he looked at her irritably.

"Yeah, everyone blames me for breaking up Piper and Leo. Leo was going to leave her anyway! And he's the one who abandoned his wife, who was trashing the city, to become an Elder. The Elders called and he came running, but no, no one blames Leo, Leo's always perfect, Chris is here from the future, Chris has no one to stand up for him, so let's all blame Chris for everything that goes wrong! Chris is a crappy whitelighter, he doesn't compare to precious Leo, Chris is the reason why everyone has to actually do their job rather than lounge around waiting for trouble to come to them, Chris is the reason everything goes wrong in your lives, Chris doesn't want the people he cares about to be happy, Chris is the reason you're lives suck, Chris is only good for things when they want something, its all down to Chris that your live suck, so let's just keep blaming Chris for everything, it's not as if he has feelings!" he ranted, and Paige winced.

A cold, brutal, but sadly, not entirely inaccurate of the way they all treated him.

"Chris, I..." she said, and several penguins waddled over to him, as if to cheer him up, strange little creatures.

"Forget it. And to answer your question, I'm worried about him because I think he's bad news. For a start, he'll never understand Piper and she isn't the sort of person who ought to suppress her magic just because her guy is a jerk. She's in too much of a hurry to get over Leo and it'll hurt more if it crashes and burns. And I just get a really bad vibe off of him." He explained, and Paige patted his arm.

"Chris, Dan is a nice guy. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body." She assured him, and Chris rolled his eyes.

He considered telling her that Dan had threatened him, but Dan was right, until he had proof, they would all take dull Dan's side, and even if he got proof they probably would still do it.

"Fine. I'll just keep an eye on him myself." He said venomously, his eyes hurt and face downcast, and orbed out, leaving the penguins looking sad.

Paige sighed. Maybe she ought to talk to her sisters about how they treated Chris. That rant had come from somewhere. Sighing, she resumed her attempts to corral the penguins.

XX

Darryl frowned as he once more looked at Dan's file. Something about it wasn't quite right. Why was there absolutely no information on whatever case it had been that Dan had meant to be connected to? Things like that didn't just disappear, not from police files.

He scanned it again, and noticed that Dan had somehow managed to avoid being roped into any of the girls cases when he had been around last time. Lucky guy.

Darryl frowned again. There was something about the missing reference that was bothering him. He decided he had to investigate. After all, Chris was the only one who said thanks, and that deserved special consideration. As such, he would help the kid out.

XX

"Look, I know I said I would let it lie Piper but, I have to say I'm worried about Chris." Dan said as they enjoyed a coffee.

"Dan, I know you don't trust him or like him, but Chris is a good kid." She said firmly.

"Really? You didn't seem that sure of him last time I asked you about him." Dan pointed out, and Piper frowned.

"Dan, not this again. There are other guys in my life, and you just have to accept that. Chris is the only other one." She said, and Dan looked at her sceptically.

"Piper, I'm just worried about you. Look at the mess Leo left you with. Chris has all the classic signs of being trouble." He said, and she glowered at him.

"How? Phoebe, Paige and I don't make his job particularly easy, but he still comes by every day. He just wants to help." She said defensively.

"But how can you be sure about that?" Dan persisted, and Piper was getting angry.

This was all Chris' fault. Yes, she knew it was part of Dan's personality, the jealous part of it, and she didn't like that part of him at all. But if he could just back off and give her space to live her life again, maybe she and Dan could have a normal date without him worrying incessantly over her whitelighter from the future.

"Because he's...done nothing but good since he's arrived." She said, her own voice tailing off.

"You don't sound very convinced." He pointed out, and to tell the truth she wasn't.

It was he who had encouraged Leo to make them goddesses and stop the Titans, but in the process Leo had become an Elder. It was he who told them nothing about what was meant to befall her son and kept everything irritatingly close to his chest. It was he who had turned their lives upside down, hardly giving them any time on their own. It was he who sent them after demon after demon, despite how stressful it was. It was he who had stopped Phoebe and Paige enjoying their lives away from the manor, and he who had berated Piper for letting them move out. And it was because of him that she couldn't manage to have a date with Dan in peace, as Dan kept obsessing over him.

"Alright, maybe some of his methods have been a bit questionable, but he's still one of the good guys, he's here to help with Wyatt." She said.

And she had to admit he had done some good, usually with Leo breathing down his neck and making it harder for him. He'd gotten them the empathy blocking potion, he'd realised while her own husband hadn't that they'd been replaced by those trashy blondes, and he'd shown them that they had to take his warnings about threats more seriously and stop fixing on their personal lives as much, no matter how much he wanted them to be able to.

"Help with what?" Dan asked.

"Just help Wyatt." She said, her tone indicating not to push any further in that direction.

"Are you sure he's the best help available? You're not alone anymore Piper, I'm back and whatever you need me to do I will." He said, squeezing her hand.

The more Piper thought about it, the more she realised Dan was right. However unintentionally, Chris had caused more harm than good. Not to mention the fact that he had single handedly wrecked her marriage, and had them all jumping at shadows.

"Look Piper, you're not even sure about the kid yourself. And I've seen how he looks at Wyatt, and its scary, it's like he means him harm." Dan said worriedly, and Piper did have to admit, there were times when Chris looked at Wyatt that she did get the chills.

Was everything just an elaborate bluff so he could get to Wyatt? Surely not. If it was, he'd have done something by now.

"I'm just looking out for you." Dan said softly, and she nodded.

"I know you are, and its sweet. But Chris..."

"Is dangerous Piper. How much good has he really done you? The only good he is is as a last minute babysitter."

He was also right about that. Like Grams had said, he was far too young and inexperienced to be their whitelighter. Leo had grown and developed with them, but Chris was all confidence and little substance. While he did advise them and give them a small boost, he just wasn't as good at the pep talks as Leo was, he didn't make them feel like he could do anything. He was wise in his own way, but he didn't have the decades of knowledge and lore Leo had accumulated. He was also relatively anti-Elder, which she did have to admit endeared him to her slightly, and rarely asked for their help. And there was the fact that he couldn't heal, which was pretty much an occupational hazard when you were a Whitelighter. And there were all the secrets and the frustrating lack of information about the future. Dan did have a point. He was causing more harm than good, and not just in the normal sense. And like he said, he was back. She didn't need Chris around as a last minute babysitter anymore. Yeah, he insisted he had to protect Wyatt, but surely he could do that some other way.

And besides, his presence frustrated Dan. How was she meant to have any sort of normal relationship if there was another guy in the house, especially if that guy had little business being there in the first place? What was she to do? Side with the man who may be the second chance of true love, or side with the smartass kid from the future who had wrecked the first one?

Dan smiled as he watched Piper think it over. Plant a few seeds, the rest would go from there. Soon Chris would be out of the picture completely.

XX

Piper's thoughts were full as she drove her and Dan home. He was right. Chris really was causing more harm than good, and it was affecting everything that they did. He was a mediocre whitelighter at best, his methods were questionable, and he had turned their lives upside down. And all his justification, all his excuse for all he had done was that he had to protect Wyatt, yet couldn't say what he was protecting him from. It was maddening.

But even then, her thoughts went back to what she liked about him. He hated the Elders as much as she did. And there was also the fact that he trusted them do figure their own way out, whereas Leo had always checked with the Elders first. She had to give him some credit for that. He had figured out that the blondes weren't the Charmed Ones with ease and had given them their powers back, and he had also helped get her back from Valhalla and with various other magical messes. He was a good kid, who meant well. And she had to remember that. But, he'd done so much, caused so much damage. How could she protect her family when she was letting such a liability get so close?

Dan watched as Piper pondered on the way into the house. She was conflicted about the entire thing, he could tell. She was thinking about what Chris was capable of, just as he'd planned.

"Look, I'm not saying that he'd hurt you, but a kid shows up out of nowhere and you take him in, you never know what could be going on in his head Piper. He could b taking advantage, stealing from you." He said, and she shook her head.

"No, he wouldn't do that. He isn't like that." She said, and she did know that he wouldn't steal from them. Well, nothing they owned anyway. But what if he was after their powers?

She was being ridiculous. True, Chris had made a mess of things at times, but he'd always fixed them. A lot of the time they hadn't even been his fault. But there were times when he had disappeared, times when he wasn't available. A whitelighter needed to be available and he frequently wasn't. And unlike Leo, he had no wise words of advice. Maybe the kid was struggling and was just too proud to admit it.

"Hey Dan." Phoebe said tiredly as she entered.

"Hi Phoebe, how's the court case thing going?" he asked with a smile.

Piper was frantic. He was right, at least on a certain level. Chris wasn't exactly dangerous, but he wasn't exactly a blessing to have around either. She had to talk it over with her sisters, be assigned another whitelighter. If Wyatt really was in danger, she wanted someone who could help, who knew what they were doing. Not some green kid who's answer to everything was demon vanquishing, or worse 'future consequences'.

"It's getting there, she's backing down now she's realised I'm fighting her. A while more and I'll have her." She said cheerfully.

"That's good." Dan said with a grin, and she nodded.

"Phoebe, I need your help in the kitchen." Piper said, and the sisters went through, and Dan turned just as Chris, unusually, entered via the front door.

"I thought I told you I didn't want you around here anymore." Dan said coldly, and Chris glared at him.

This was his home. He was the intruder. Resisting the urge to snap the smug git's neck with his powers, he shouldered past him. He had to tell Piper his suspicions, he was going crazy. He couldn't allow even the possibility of his mother being hurt by Dan.

"And I ignored you. Where's Piper?" he asked, but Dan blocked his way.

"That's none of your business. You can't stroll around here as if you own the place. This is her home." Dan said icily, and Chris once more fought down his temper.

He had more right to be here than that vapid idiot did. Chris looked at the man and wondered just what the hell it was that his mother saw in this guy. To most he was good looking, but to Chris he just looked vain and vapid, with a weak chin and jealousy issues. He'd credited his mother with better taste than this. And Chris was running out of time. If he didn't find some way to put Leo and Piper back together, there would be no him. And he had to get this scumbag away from Piper. He hated that it would make her unhappy, but he didn't have a choice. Dan had to go, he couldn't allow him to hurt his mother or brother.

Chris headed past him, until Dan shoved him back angrily, making Chris snarled.

"I think you should leave Chris. You don't have any business being here." Dan said sternly, and Chris narrowed his green eyes.

"I've got more right than you do. Now get the hell out of the way, before I make you." Chris threatened, and Dan smiled smugly, giving Chris what he clearly thought was a winning smile

"Somehow I doubt that. You're too scrawny." He said, and Chris took a step closer to him.

"Look Dan, get out of the way, and let me talk to Piper." He said, his teeth bared in anger.

"No, I don't think I will. Get out. You don't live here." Dan said, and to Chris' surprise, he punched him in the stomach.

Chris wheezed and doubled over, as Dan took a sinister step towards him, a sadistic smile on his face, and he grabbed Chris's arm, wrenching it.

"You don't live here either." Chris sneered, and squinted his eyes.

Dan stumbled, falling to the floor with a thud that brought Piper and Phoebe through inot the foyer, as Dan looked around in confusion.

"Chris!" Piper snapped, seeing her boyfriend on the floor and not entirely sure how he had gotten there.

"He attacked me!" Dan exclaimed, pointing at Chris in fury.

Chris's eyes flashed.

"He attacked me first, he punched me!" he protested, and Piper and Phoebe exchanged sceptical looks.

"Dan wouldn't hurt a fly. What did you do?" Piper asked, her voice tight.

"Nothing. I was trying to talk to you, and he wouldn't let me past." Chris said angrily.

"Why not?" Phoebe asked, her tone disbelieving. Dan was too nice to ever be a jerk to anyone, besides all she was getting from him was anger.

"He didn't want me talking to Piper." Chris said, and she raised an eyebrow at him, just as Paige came through the door, and seeing the scene before her, Piper, Phoebe and Dan glaring at Chris, she edged inwards, tense.

"I wanted to tell you that...that he's no good. He's dangerous Piper. He's abusive." Chris said earnestly, and it was partially true, the Dan in his time was.

Piper and Phoebe laughed, and Chris flinched at the sound. He hadn't expected them to believe him, but still, it hurt.

"Abusive? Dan? And yet you're the one who attacked him?" Piper asked disbelievingly, and Paige began to have a really bad feeling about this.

"I didn't! He attacked me!" Chris protested, his voice getting higher.

"Chris, enough. I know you don't like him, but this has gone on long enough. Or are you so determined to get us to do our jobs that you don't want any of us to be happy?" Piper demanded, and Chris felt like she'd slapped him.

"Piper, that isn't true at all..." Chris protested, but Piper cut him off, her eyes hard.

"You come into my home. You ruin my marriage, and drive my husband away. You don't want us to have any semblance of a normal life, you're all about work, you never give us a break or any peace. Your methods are questionable, sometimes even dangerous. And as a guide," she said, for Dan's benefit, "you make a pretty poor effort. You don't tell us anything, but you expect us to trust you with my son's welfare, trust that you know what you're doing, but the thing is, you really don't. Ever since you got here, it's been one thing after another, and you've slowly been destroying everything in our lives, and we don't want to put up with it anymore." Piper said coldly, and Chris felt tears gathered in the back of his throat. His mother couldn't be saying this. Yeah, he'd screwed up, but he'd only ever given every effort to them, putting up with them despite everything, and trying so hard to save his big brother that he sacrificed his own existence.

"Piper..." he said pleadingly, his eyes watery, hurt and betrayed.

"And now, you come here, and attack one of our oldest friends, and expect us to believe he attacked you? We've known him a hell of a lot longer than we have you, and frankly, we trust him a lot more than we trust you too. We won't let you hurt us, or Wyatt." Phoebe said sternly, and Chris looked at her pleadingly.

"I don't want to hurt Wyatt! I want to protect him! Please, you know I do! And I'm sorry for everything, but I'm not out to destroy your lives, or to make you miserable, I'm trying to protect you." Chris said, his voice thick with unshed tears.

"Piper, Phoebe, cut the kid a break! He's screwed up a little yeah, but he doesn't deserve this!" Paige protested, coming to her whitelighter's aid.

"Paige, Piper's made up her mind. Chris is dangerous. And we can't let him stick around if he's a threat. Look at what Leo did to her. You really want Chris hurting her in such a way?" Dan asked softly, as if to soothe her.

But Paige's eyes narrowed. He had instigated this. He had turned Piper against Chris, and she'd gotten Phoebe on side. And now of the two of them were dancing to his tune. And for the first time, she truly saw him. His jealousy, his pettiness, his paranoia. His weak, stupid grin and vapid smile, all the while thinking he was some great guy, protecting the damsels in distress, acting like the chivalrous gentleman. Only he wasn't.

"He isn't dangerous. I want a word you two. Now." Paige snapped, but Piper shook her head.

"Paige I'm sorry, but it's just been one thing after another since he got here. We obviously can't trust him, and I'm not sure I trust him around Wyatt or us anymore. You have to admit, he's caused just as much harm as he has good." Piper said, and Paige hated seeing Chris flinch the way he did, and she could see the tears now streaming down his face.

"Piper, I swear, I'm not trying to hurt you, I'd never hurt you!" Chris protested weakly, wishing above all that he could tell her who he really was, but with Dan there, he didn't dare.

Piper looked at him, pitying but cold.

"I wish I could believe that. But Chris, you're a danger to all of us in your own way. You aren't experienced, you don't tell us anything, and you keep putting us in danger. I won't stand for it anymore." She said firmly, and he bowed his head, before glaring at Dan.

"He turned you against me." He said accusingly, but Piper shook her head.

"I know you want to believe that, but it wasn't him. He just made you see how much of a risk you are. You turned us against you. Now go. I don't want to see you anymore. Especially not around here, not around my son." Piper said, her voice icy.

Paige looked at her sister in shock. She was kicking Chris out. And the kid hadn't even done anything to deserve it. And she could see Phoebe's satisfied smirk, and Dan's smug grin, and resisted the urge to start throwing things.

"Piper, I swear..." Chris protested sadly, but she just narrowed her eyes coldly.

"I want you out. Now." She said again, maintaining her icy demeanour, but seeing how much she was upsetting him was getting to her.

"But..." Chris said softly, tears streaking from his eyes.

"Are you deaf? She said go." Phoebe chimed in.

"Wait a minute you two!" Paige snarled, moving towards the crying form of Chris.

"Or do you want me to call the police?" Dan asked, trying to keep the smug, victorious smile from his face.

"No. I'll go. You better treat her right. And Piper, I hope he's worth it." Chris spat venomously.

Dan had won. He had turned his mother against him. His mother had just thrown him out of her life. And now, he would be a repressive scumbag, and would make his mother into something she wasn't. He already had. Hatred like he had never known coursed through him, but he kept it at bay behind his tears.

"Go then." Dan invited, his eyes alight with malice.

"No, Chris, stay while we talk about this." Paige said angrily, and he shook his head.

"Don't bother Paige. They've made their minds up. Doesn't matter. In a few months, you won't even remember that I existed anyway." He said bitterly, realising that now she had chosen Dan, there was no chance he would be born.

Part of him was bothered by that. The rest wasn't.

But the thing that hurt the most was what his mother had done. Not just everything she had said to him. But she had chosen her wanker boyfriend over him. The only one who had always had his back.

"Go then! We don't want you around anymore, I thought Piper made that quite clear." Dan said confidently.

"Just go." Piper said calmly, and Phoebe nodded her approval.

Without another word, Chris turned and went out the house, slamming the door shut behind him as he went. And Paige heard him break down into sobs as he did so. She curled her fist in anger, rage pulsing through her. That wasn't just mean. That had been cruel. And the bastard her sister was dating was the one who'd brought it all about.

"Good riddance." Phoebe said, and Paige snapped.

Before she knew what she was doing, she took a step towards her sister, and slapped her. Hard. In the face. Piper and Dan looked at her in shock, and she glowered at her two surprised sisters.

"No! Don't you dare, not after what you just did. That was needless and cruel. Crueller than I ever thought I would see from either of you. And don't you think I should have been consulted before you threw him out of our lives? How dare you!" Paige stormed.

"You slapped me!" Phoebe exclaimed in outrage.

"Yeah, I did. You deserve a hell of a lot more too." Paige spat.

"Paige, it was for the best. It sucked, yeah, but he was causing more harm than good, he was a threat to us." Piper said consolingly, eyeing the red mark on Phoebe's cheek.

Paige glared daggers at her sister so forcefully that he had to take a step back to cope with the venom.

"You mean he was a threat to him. I don't believe you. How could you do that Piper? He's a kid, and he's all alone, and you just threw him out!" she shouted, and Dan took a step towards Paige.

"Look Paige, I know you're mad, but..." he began, but she cut him off brutally.

"But nothing. I'm going out, to try and find the kid who you basically just told was worthless, evil and that you didn't want to see again all at once. I've never been so ashamed to be your sisters." She said angrily, and stormed out, leaving a stricken and angry Phoebe glaring at her, still expecting an apology for her totally unwarranted slap.

Piper though felt a guilty squirm in her stomach. She had seen how much her words had hurt Chris. But it was the right thing to do. He was a threat to them all. She was doing what Prue would have done, protecting her family. But, she still felt horrible about it. He'd looked so devastated and hurt. She took a deep breath and headed for the kitchen, and Phoebe followed, raging about Paige.

Dan frowned as he looked at the front door. Great. Now Paige would be a problem. And she would be harder to overcome than Chris had been, she didn't seem to be totally dependent on what Piper thought of him, she didn't seem as dedicated to his girlfriend as the boy had been. He would have to work on that. No one could be allowed to hurt Piper.

But he allowed himself a smug grin. Piper had chosen him over Chris, just like he had known she would. And now Chris was gone, for good. He smiled and headed for the kitchen, feeling triumphant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt so bad when I did this!  
> Dan has turned the girls against Chris, and he has fled, and even the power of three has been endangered with the sister's differences of opinion on this. And now Dan has set his sights on removing Paige from Piper's life as well so he can have Piper all to himself
> 
> Anyway, Leo makes his entry next chapter and becomes a bit more heroic than he actually was in season six


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paige calls in reinforcements from on high to find their absent whitelighter, the girls start to realise the terrible mistake they made, and Dan makes sure no one will come between him and Piper

Past Mistakes

It had been two weeks since Piper had kicked Chris out, and no one had sign hide nor hair of him since. And now, even Piper was worried, when she had gone into P3 and found that Chris had moved out of the back room. She hadn't wanted him out of their lives entirely without so much as a goodbye, but it didn't seem like that to him, and he had vanished, and responded to no one's calls, not even Paige's.

While her youngest sister was being civil to her and Phoebe again, things were still rather tense in the manor. Disgusted with the way they had ganged up on Chris, Paige made no bones about the fact that she was furious with them both and was spending a lot of time out of the house, and Piper wished she would just come back. She didn't want to admit it but she missed her baby sister. With Paige as furious as she was with them, she was also blatantly trying to find Chris. While Phoebe actively tried to stop her and interfered, Piper was a little more relaxed. After all, she did feel bad about how she had treated him, she had been far too harsh with the kid. And she was loathe to admit it, but she was slightly worried about him, out who knows where.

Phoebe on the other hand was still furious. The court case was continuing, with her having a strong case for libel, and Phoebe was determined to take down this woman who was attacking her daily in the press. She was also livid with Paige, expecting an apology for the slap her younger sister had given her, but Piper could tell she was wasting her breath. There was no way Paige was going to apologise, not that she could blame her.

Dan however, was great. Piper had invited him to stay over a few nights a week and he had accepted with great enthusiasm. Paige clearly didn't like the situation or him anymore, and glowered viciously at him whenever she saw him, and as such ate away from home a lot so as to avoid him. Piper however was thrilled having a man about the house again, and was enjoying waking up and finding someone there for her, who liked being with her.

The only problem was, considering how serious she and Dan were getting, she would soon have to face the music and tell him the truth about her being a witch. But, Chris had been right about one thing, as had Leo before him. Dan would never truly understand the magic side of things, and she knew telling them could cause a lot of complications that could either rip them apart or worse, rip her apart if he decided to blab. As such, she kept making excuses to avoid telling him, despite Phoebe nagging her to do so, the filthy hypocrite.

But Piper was slightly worried about Chris. He hadn't been seen in two weeks, and while that was all very well at the moment because they were demon light, what if they needed help? She knew she had hurt him badly with everything she had said to him, but she hadn't had any choice. She'd had to do that, she'd had to force him out, before his antics endangered Wyatt. She knew he had never really intended to do everything he had done, but it had gone on long enough. She'd had to act. Forcing him out had been the only option. But still, she couldn't help the guilty squirm of her insides every time she thought about it, remembering the heartbroken and betrayed look on his face as she'd told him she didn't want to see him again. And now she was regretting it even more with each passing day. After all, Paige was right, he was basically just a kid, a kid who's closest thing to a family had kicked him out on his ear. They had no whitelighter, which meant they were unprotected, and Piper did believe that he wouldn't have come back and say he was protecting Wyatt if he didn't have a good reason. But the way he went about it endangered them all, while turning their lives upside down. She'd had to do what she did. She just wished she hadn't been so cruel and merciless about it. And throughout each day, her mind wandered to her young whitelighter, out there on his own, and felt a pang of regret and worry as she realised it was her who had put him there.

XX

"For god sakes Leo!" Paige yelled, furious with the Elder.

She'd been trying to find Chris for days, to no avail. She'd searched everywhere for him, in this world, up there and in the underworld, and found neither hide nor hair of the kid, and she was worried sick. She'd tried calling him, summoning him, she'd even had Darryl put out word for people to try and find him, and she hadn't gotten anywhere. It was time to call in some help from on high.

If he ever answered her call.

She was standing on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, yelling herself hoarse, the least he could do was answer. Their whitelighter, who after the way her sisters treated him didn't seem entirely too happy with anything and he hadn't been before anyway, was out there, thinking the people he cared about believed him to be some evil, manipulative monster who was out to hurt them. Not that she was concerned about his mental state. Well, maybe just a little.

"Leo!" she hollered again, and this time she was rewarded with a shimmer of orbs, and she was met by the smiling face of her brother in law, dressed in a golden robe.

"Hello Paige. You seem stressed. Do you want my help to meditate?" he asked, and she suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

Why did all Elders have to act like emotionless androids?

"No, but I do want your help in finding Chris." She said, crossing her arms irritably.

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"What, has he abandoned his duties or something?" he asked sternly, his eyes angry, and she shook her head, suppressing her irritation that he automatically assumed it was his fault.

"No, it's more like he's been forced out of them, He's gone Leo. Piper and Phoebe threw him out, without asking me first I might add." She said waspishly, and Leo looked at her in concern.

"She did what? Why?" he asked. That didn't sound like Piper, and if Chris hadn't done anything, what had brought it on?

Sure he wasn't Chris' biggest fan, far from it, but he had been keeping an eye on the kid and he had seemed to be a pretty good Whitelighter, and in some ways, such as trusting the girls to make their own way through without relying on the Elders and actively getting them to go demon hunting, he was actually better than he had been.

Paige looked as though she had sucked on a lemon, her expression sour and her eyes blazing, her red hair seeming to crackle with electricity.

"Because Dan didn't like Chris, and it seems like now whatever Dan wants, Dan seems to get." She said angrily, as he had added insult to injury by stealing her Lucky Charms this morning.

Leo looked at her in confusion, and then his head caught up, and he felt his hands curling into fists as the name she had just said rang a bell.

"Dan? As in her ex boyfriend Dan?" he asked through gritted teeth, suppressing the surge of anger and jealousy inside him, the creature inside his chest that protected his love for Piper rearing back to life after its sleep.

Paige nodded bitterly.

"About three weeks ago now, dickhead Dan showed up and started dating Piper again. But, yet again, he had trust issues." She explained, and Leo rolled his eyes.

"And let me guess, he checked up on Chris." He growled, remembering the all too nosy mortal's insistence on trying to control every aspect of Piper's life.

"Yes, and when he couldn't find anything on her, he started hissing in her ear that Chris couldn't be trusted, that he was dangerous. And then, she and Phoebe joined forces, told him they wouldn't let him hurt Wyatt or screw up their lives anymore, and kicked him out. Leo...I'm worried about him. I've been calling him ever since they did it, I can't find him anywhere, and he really wasn't doing good afterwards, he was in tears when he left the manor, and by the time I'd gotten to P3 he'd packed up all his stuff and left without a word. I'm worried about him." She said earnestly, and Leo had always admired that about his sister in law, she always wanted to help, even when she thought the person didn't deserve it, like Cole. But for once, it seemed like Chris was the victim, forced out by Dan. Since when was Piper a sell out?

"What did Chris do? Anything?" Leo asked, and he had to admit he was slightly concerned about the kid.

Paige sighed, looking at him desperately.

"That's just it! The only thing he's been doing recently is worrying about Piper and Dan, he hasn't even been sending us on demon hunts. He hadn't done anything wrong, and she suddenly turned on him and threw him out."

Leo frowned. Something about this wasn't right. He could understand if Chris had done something, but frustration with the boy wasn't a justifiable reason to get rid of him.

"How did Chris seem?" Leo asked, his own concern for him growing.

"Devastated, how do you expect? She told him she didn't want to see him anymore. So next thing we know he's packed up and moved out of P3, and Dan's moved into the house." She said, and Leo frowned.

"Dan...I never did understand what she saw in that guy, he always seemed a prick to me. Alright, so he's back in town. And let me guess, Piper's fallen for him hard and fast, he's the rebound guy, and he's acting all wonderful, yet all suspicious and possessive at the same time?" Leo asked grumpily, and Paige smiled a little. Yep, he still loved Piper.

"Yeah he has. Piper's insistent on having a normal relationship, and every time Chris brought it up she insisted that he didn't want her to be happy, which always seemed to really upset him. I asked him the same thing and he lost it. I think we've been treating him pretty badly Leo, even before Piper threw him out." She explained, and he nodded grimly.

Although he would be the last to admit it, he hadn't exactly been fair to the kid ever since he'd arrived. Mind you the fact that he seemed to revel in the fact that so many Elders had been killed by the Titans hadn't done him any favours, at least not with him. Piper was a slightly different story.

"So, Piper comes across as all suspicious and mistrusting of Chris as soon as Dan shows up?" Leo asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah. I mean Chris made it clear he didn't like Dan, and that he didn't trust him, he was afraid he would hurt Piper. How is that fair? He was only trying to protect Piper and he got kicked out for it, and it wasn't a 'please will you leave', it was vicious, cruel and humiliating what they did to him. Dan claimed that Chris attacked him..."

"And Piper and Phoebe automatically took Dan's side." Leo said, his anger growing by the moment.

This was all wrong. It seemed like as soon as Dan had appeared, he had made it his mission to get rid of Chris, and after manipulating the girls, he had succeeded.

"Yeah. They told Chris that they couldn't trust him, that they didn't want him near Wyatt, that he was out to make them miserable, and that they didn't want to see him anymore." She lamented, and Leo frowned.

"Dan...dull Dan. Asshole. What does Piper see in that guy? So, they join forces and kick the kid out. Then what?" he asked, and she smirked a little.

"I slapped Phoebe." She said proudly, and he suppressed a grin. After all, an Elder couldn't condone violence. But, he had to admit there were a few times when Phoebe had driven him mad enough to want to knock some sense into her, he could see why Prue was always so frustrated with her.

"I meant in regards to Dan." He said, and she glowered.

"He had this really smug grin. Leo, I'm sure he got Piper to do it, he made her paranoid, and as a result, he said jump and she asked how high. He turned her against Chris. He wanted Chris out of the way." She said, and Leo had had enough.

"Alright!" he said angrily, and whipped off his robe.

"My my!" Paige said in impressed surprise as Leo was once more dressed in plaid as he usually was, his eyes seething.

Something wasn't right. Piper wouldn't turn on Chris just like that. She would have to be pushed to do something like that. And the only person she would ever consider truly turning out into the cold that they knew was Cole, and she had never really done that, so why would she do it to Chris? No, Dan has to have been involved. Dan had started prattling in his wife's ear, making her think Chris was a threat, just so he could get his legs under the table. No, Dan had a lot to answer for. Paige had to be right.

"That jerk stealing my wife, turning her loose on innocent kids..." he muttered bitterly, orbing the robe back upstairs.

"Leo, what are you doing?" Paige asked, and he glowered.

"I'm going to go and find Chris. No matter what he's done, he didn't deserve everything she said to him. And besides, Piper has no right to kick Chris out, of fire him. That's a job for the Elders. And if I can't find him," Leo said with a smug smile, "well I'll just need to be your whitelighter again until we do!" he finished brightly.

"Thanks Leo. It's good to have you back." She said, hugging him tightly.

"Good to be back. Right, I've got an upset kid to find. And you, see if you can find out anything about Dan, what he said to Piper. Jerk." He said bitterly, and orbed off.

"Hang on sweetie, we'll fix it." Paige said softly, hoping Chris would hear her.

XX

Leo orbed to the underworld, and immediately regretted it as he landed in a pit of sludge. But, he finally had a lock on Chris, and so orbed out of the muck and to his location.

Anger was coursing through him. This was so wrong. Piper would never sell out to any man, do what they told her to do. But Dan had somehow twisted her into something she wasn't, and because he had wanted rid of Chris, she had happily obliged. Since when did Piper make snap judgements? Yeah Chris had done some questionable stuff, but to kick him out so brutally? He didn't deserve that.

But, Leo pondered as he walked through the caverns, why was Dan so insistent on getting rid of Chris? Surely he couldn't see Chris as a threat. After all, Chris had been with them for months and had never once tried to hurt them or flirt with them. Yet Dan was worried.

Leo scowled. Here he was, taking Chris' side, all because that vapid idiot Dan had come back. Leo frowned in distaste. He was like one of those people that got put on a pedestal because they looked all heroic and brave, but when you looked closely, you saw they were really weak willed, vapid idiots, pretty boys with better hair than brains. Ugh. Just thinking about it made him sick.

What the hell had Piper had seen in him? He wasn't against the girls dating mortals, far from it. After all, Andy had been a nice guy when Prue was dating him. Piper had even dated other mortals that he didn't mind. Jason was a decent guy too, and so was Glen. Dan however was different. Interfering, sticking his nose in, determined to try and catch Leo out, digging up dirt on him to try and drive Piper back to him. And unlike the girls, he was pretty sure Dan had probably attacked Chris, after all, he had been the one to attack Leo all those years ago. He was pathetic, jealous and petty. At first, he thought Piper had only been seeing him to get to him, but she actually did like him. Lord knew why.

Still thinking bitter thoughts about Dan, he turned the corner and emerged into a small cave, where Chris was curled up under a thin blanket, sleeping fitfully.

Not wanting to startle him awake in case Chris reacted with telekinesis, he just sat down beside the boy, running a critical eye over his appearance. He looked relatively healthy all told. His skin was pale from being underground for so long, he was developing some stubble too, and his growing hair was slightly matted. But aside from that, he seemed fine, aside from the smell. Leo looked at the boy pityingly. After all, he probably hadn't showered since Piper kicked him out, and he had been in the underworld to boot.

"Chris?" Leo called softly, and the boy opened his green eyes, and Leo immediately felt a pang for him as he saw the red rimmed eyes, the kid must have cried himself to sleep.

"Leo...what are you doing here?" he asked, without any of the usual snark as he sat up.

"Looking for you." He said with a soft voice that surprised even himself.

Chris cast his eyes downward, and Leo didn't think he had ever seen someone look so defeated.

"Why? You come to kick me out of your life too?" he asked mournfully, and Leo shook his head, vowing to rip Dan's head off. It took a lot to make someone like Chris lose all their fight, and all it had taken Dan to do was turn the girls against him. He was going to kill him.

"No, of course not. I'm here because Paige and I are worried about you, you've been missing for two weeks." He said, and Chris shrugged, though he saw the slight uplift in his eyes as he said that he and Paige were worried about him.

"Well Piper wanted rid of me. I supposed here would be as good a place as any, I've been looking for leads on who turns Wyatt." He muttered, the pain in his voice over his first comment painfully obvious.

"Chris look, what Piper did was heartless and cruel. But you know Dan was the one behind it right? If she was thinking straight, she'd never have said all the things she did to you." He assured him, and Chris looked away, his eyes pained.

"It's what she wanted. It's what you all wanted from the start. You got it, I'm gone." He said bitterly, and he sounded so dejected that he did something he had never thought he would do, and pulled Chris into a hug.

Chris was surprised at first, but to his surprise, found himself relaxing into it. All his life he had just wanted some measure of care and affection from his father, rather than being blown off. He'd only had to travel twenty two years into the past, but at least he was finally getting some.

Leo pulled away from Chris and looked at him earnestly.

"Chris, listen to me. We will fix this ok? At first, I'll admit I wasn't crazy about you, but you've more than proved your worth in my eyes, and in the girls. Piper and Phoebe have just forgotten that. We don't want you gone. Besides, I know Piper and I know she'll be wracked with guilt for everything she said to you." He assured him, and Chris smiled a little.

"Thanks Leo." He said earnestly, and he nodded, then Leo grinned a little.

"You can go back to P3. Don't worry about Piper, I'll make her see that she can't just throw a kid from the future out on the street when he has nowhere else to go. And besides, you sort of stink." He said, and Chris grinned ruefully, running his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I kinda do huh? They're not real big on amenities down here. Besides, I was kicked out so I figured out I may as well do something useful, even if I was upset. Wyatt's too important." Chris said, and wrinkled his nose as he smelled how bad he really was.

And his longish hair was matted, which annoyed him, and he always hated having stubble, he always said Wyatt looked ridiculous with the evil beard he grew.

"Wyatt might be important Chris, but so are you. Go back to P3. Relax a while, get some food, have a drink. I'll deal with Piper. And Dan." He said dangerously.

Chris looked at his father in shock. Leo had just said he was important, like Wyatt. Far cry for a kid who never thought his youngest was worth his time. He then smiled.

"Go get her tiger." He said teasingly.

"Will do." He said, and stood to leave.

"Leo!" Chris called, stopping his father mid orb.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." He said with genuine gratitude, and a genuine smile, his first proper one in about two weeks.

"You're welcome." Leo said, and orbed off.

Chris stood, feeling a lot better than he had in days. Yeah, his mom and aunt never wanted to see him again, and had made it quite clear that they were happiest without him. And his mother was shacked up with the winner of the world's biggest jerk award. But his other aunt, and to his great surprise, even his father, had both been worried enough about him to go looking for him. Chris smiled. He'd never had a father who cared before. And now he suddenly had a father who cared enough to make sure he had somewhere to stay and perform such modern luxuries as showering.

Besides, his time hadn't been completely wasted down here. He had a bunch of new leads that he could work on. Only thing was, to do that he would need the book. Which meant seeing his mother. Chris frowned sadly, the memory of what she had said still cutting through him like sheet glass. He hoped she wouldn't be at P3. Chris sighed sadly, and orbed off to the club, hoping he wouldn't meet anyone he'd rather avoid.

XX

"Look Piper, I've heard about this sort of thing before. Do you have any proof?" Dan asked, and Piper struggled to control her temper.

It was bad enough putting up with his suspicions about Chris. But now, he was saying Paige might not be her sister.

"Dan, I've told you. We have every guarantee possible that she is our sister, and that should be enough for you." She told him darkly, and he smiled easily, kissing her forehead.

"Look, I know I'm a nag, I'm just worried about you that's all. What with Leo and Chris, I'm a little paranoid I guess." He said bashfully, and she smiled slightly.

"I know, and you're very sweet. But Paige really is our sister. Trust me." She said, touching his cheek and he nodded.

"Ok, I believe you." He said, though his tone wavered slightly, making Piper doubt it.

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway, and Piper turned to see Paige. She had a curious expression on her face, a mix between hostility, anger, and hurt. She gave Dan a look of pure venom and looked to Piper, and she could see pleading in her baby sister's eyes.

"We need to talk." She said, strolling in to the kitchen.

"Feel free." Dan said, putting his arm around Piper's shoulder protectively, clearly refusing to be told to get out by someone other than the woman he was with.

"Alone." Paige said pointedly, glowering.

"Whatever you have to say to Piper you can say in front of me Paige." Dan said, giving her what he probably considered a winning smile, though his tone held a warning.

"No it can't. Get out." Paige snapped, and Dan looked to Piper, who nodded towards the door.

Dan bowed his head, as if accepting defeat gracefully. But he shot Paige a look of pure loathing as he left the room. Smiling victoriously, she shut the door to illustrate her point, then turned to Piper, reproach in her eyes.

"So am I next then? The next one to get thrown out of your life?" she asked reproachfully, and Piper looked at her sorrowfully, hurt by the accusation.

"What? No Paige, of course not! You're my sister! Why would you think that?" she demanded, not quite angry but not quite calm either.

"Because that's what happened to Chris. Dan decided he didn't like him. Made you doubt him. And the next thing we know, you've turned on Chris and chucked him out of your life, breaking the poor kid's heart in the process. Dan clearly doesn't like or trust me, so I'm just wondering if I'm next. Because if I am, I'll go and join Chris in the underworld, least that way I won't be getting in the way of Romeo through there." She said, her tone shimmering with repressed anger.

Piper looked at her sister in shock. Did she think she would throw her aside so easily? She was her baby sister, she would never throw her out the way she had Chris. Wait, Chris was in the underworld? Her insides gave a guilty squirm. She had forced him out of her life, and he had taken refuge in the place where he was in most danger, where their hated enemies dwelt. Had she really made him feel that bad? She hoped not. More than anything, she wished he was at least still living at P3. She was beginning to miss him, odd though that seemed.

"Paige, that isn't it. Chris was a threat to us, he..."

"No Piper. If Chris was a threat to us, he'd have made his move long ago, we've given him enough reasons to kill us several times over. He wasn't a threat to us, he was a threat to Dunce through there. Dan decided he didn't like him, and so he had to go. So he filled your head with crap, which because you fell too hard and too fast like we warned you about, you fell for straight away! And he did, didn't he? He started you wondering about Chris, and you obligingly threw the poor kid out, not just out of the house but out of your life. And you didn't even care did you? You saw how much you were hurting him, but you wanted to show off for your boyfriend, so you kept going. Admit it Piper! Dan started making you doubt Chris, and you came home and kicked him out, just like he wanted! Dan didn't want him around, so he manipulated you into getting rid of Chris for good." She snarled, and Piper looked away, regret and refusal to admit the truth, which her sister was actually on to, filling her as she did so.

"That wasn't the way it happened. Chris was dangerous, I had to protect this family." She justified, turning to face her sister.

Her red headed sister looked at Piper searchingly, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me the truth Piper. Tell me that Dan had done nothing to do with your decision and I swear I'll let it drop." She said coldly.

Piper opened her mouth, intending to tell her sister she was wrong. But found she couldn't. Because she knew Paige was right. Dan had planted the seeds and had watered them, and Piper had just reaped the fruit of the reward.

"Uh-huh." Paige said triumphantly.

"Did you find him?" Piper asked, slightly worried about him, wondering just how badly she had hurt him now that she knew where he was hiding.

She had made him feel unwanted, unneeded. She had told him he was a threat, that he wanted to sabotage them and make their lives a misery, that he was dangerous to them, that he wanted to hurt them. And in response, his heart had broken and he had fled to one of the most deadly places he could find, which also happened to be where the worst place imaginable for anyone magical. Had she made him feel like a demon? She had certainly demonized him, so could he really be blamed for hiding out in the underworld? Piper frowned. She hadn't meant to make the kid feel evil, just that...oh she didn't know.

"Not yet, he won't answer me. Probably afraid I'll tell him I never want to see him again next." She said tartly, and Piper looked down, shame faced

She'd been worried yes, but she knew she hadn't really meant all of the stuff she had said to him. But everything Dan had said made so much sense, and when she'd asked Phoebe, her sister had vowed to support her all the way. But, she already felt awful, and now she was afraid she really had made a very bad mistake.

The door rang, and they heard Dan go to get it.

"Paige, I would never, ever do that to you. You know that right? You're my baby sister. And that's it. Nothing will change that." She said, squeezing her sister's hand.

"Good. I wouldn't want it to, even if I am mad at the two of you." She said grudgingly, and Piper smiled as she saw the relief in Paige's eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dan demanded angrily, and Piper looked at Paige in confusion, before heading through to the door.

Paige smiled. She had a feeling she knew who was at the door, which meant that she had to see this.

"Leo!" Piper exclaimed in shock as she saw her ex husband shouldering past Dan into the foyer.

"Hi Piper. Hi Paige." He said cheerfully, ignoring Dan.

"I thought he was out of the picture?" Dan hissed angrily, and Piper glared.

"He is! At least he's meant to be. What are you doing here Leo?" she asked, a little taken aback by his sudden reappearance.

"I'm here to see my son. And talk to you. Strange. It's usually 'freezing' in here." He said, indicating Dan.

"Leo, you and Piper split up. You don't have any business being here." Dan said aggressively, but Leo seemed to delight in ignoring him.

"I've got all the 'time' in the world Piper." Leo said pointedly, and Dan had an ugly look on his face as he approached Leo, fist closing threateningly.

"Leo, I must insist-"

Piper froze the room, and Dan stopped in his tracks.

"You know, I prefer him like this." Paige commented, studying Dan, not liking at all the look that was on his face.

"He's just angry, he probably thinks I've been lying to him. What are you doing here?" Piper asked, as Paige collected Wyatt and passed him to his father, the baby squealing in delight as she did so.

"I came to talk to you about Chris. Why did you kick him out? I mean, I know he isn't the most orthodox or trustworthy of guys Piper, but what you did was brutal." Leo said condemningly as he whizzed Wyatt through the air, the baby laughing as he did so.

"Leo, look. I know I was too hard on Chris. I shouldn't have done what I did. But he's causing more harm than good, I had to protect Wyatt!" she protested.

But while that excuse had worked with Phoebe and Dan, and to a certain extent Paige, it had no effect at all on Leo, who just looked at her as if she were stupid, which did annoy her a little bit.

"Protect Wyatt? Piper, I know we don't fully trust him, but if he was going to hurt Wyatt, don't you think he'd have done it by now? You really hurt him when you threw him out, he hadn't done anything wrong." He scolded slightly, and she refused to look him in the eyes.

"He..."

"Or did you get rid of him because Dan didn't like him?" Leo asked in a cold voice.

All of a sudden he found himself very protective of Chris. Probably because sticking up for Chris would piss Dan off, which suited him. It wasn't that he didn't want Piper to be happy. Just not with that idiot.

Piper rolled her eyes.

"Leo, I can make my own decisions. Dan had, very little to do with it. He just pointed out how risky Chris was to have around, and the more I thought about it, I agreed." She said, ignoring the glare Paige was giving her.

"And why should Dan care? Chris is no business of his." Leo pointed out.

"He is if he's around here, which he is." Piper said defensively, and Leo looked at her with disappointment.

"Yeah, so I notice. Piper, think about this. Who are you more willing to trust? Dan or Chris?" he asked, and she looked at him boldly.

"Dan." She said proudly, and smirked inwardly at the look of disdain she saw in his eyes.

"But who's the more likely to start throwing punches?" Leo ploughed on.

"Well, Chris...obviously..." Piper said hesitantly.

After all, Chris had never so much as hurt a fly while he had been here. Demons he would quite happily fight, but another human? No, maybe he wouldn't. But she had seen Dan fall to the floor. Chris had to have attacked him. But then again, Dan had once thrown a punch at Leo, he'd been the aggressor, while trying to prove that Leo was bad news. Maybe he had attacked first. The thought of that made her feel even more guilty.

"You don't believe yourself. Piper, I can't tell you how to live your life. But I want to see you happy. And I'm sorry, but I think Dan will just cause you pain in the long run." Leo said, and she avoided looking at his eyes.

"He's a good man. A decent man." She said stubbornly.

"Yeah...funny thing though. Despite being a good man, he's incredibly possessive and jealous, and keeps sticking his nose into things he shouldn't. And despite being a good man, he managed to convince you to get rid of Chris, and is now trying to alienate me. I don't know what he's up to Piper, but that isn't the mark of a good man." Paige reasoned.

Piper refused to accept it. No. Dan was a good man, he was just overprotective.

Dan then unfroze, Paige's comment hanging in the air.

"-That you leave, you're not welcome here anymore." Dan said, glowering at Leo.

Piper, Paige and Leo looked at him in shock.

"Excuse me? I'm here to see my son. And this is Piper's house, not yours. You can't tell me that I'm not welcome here, only she can." Leo growled, and Dan narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not asking you again Leo. Leave now." Dan said angrily, and Piper stood in front of her ex.

"No. He doesn't have to leave. He's here to see Wyatt, so he can see Wyatt. And you may have moved in, but don't think that gives you the right to decide who I can and can't have in my house." She said in a tight voice.

Dan took a step back, and Leo smiled in victory, a smile that expanded when he sensed Chris in P3.

"Piper, you should talk to Chris. He's at P3." He said, and she looked away in shame while Dan looked at him angrily.

"Chris? Chris is gone. He's a threat to the family you abandoned, and she took care of it." He said, but Dan ignored him.

"You can't just throw him away like that. Not without due cause. And even then, you don't get final say in the matter. My colleagues do." Leo said evasively, and she sighed.

"And since he's been gone, we have been underprotected." Paige reasoned.

"I can protect you." Dan said, glowering at Paige.

"No you can't." She said with contempt.

"He didn't deserve what you did to him Piper, and I know you feel guilty. I know you better than this jackass, and I know its tearing you apart." Leo said simply, and she sighed heavily.

She was saved the necessity from answering as Phoebe entered the house.

"Leo, hi!" she exclaimed in delight.

"Hi Phoebe." He said curtly, and she seemed slightly hurt by the indifference in his tone.

"Piper, Chris is just a kid. He knows no one else, we're all he has. He hasn't even done anything." Paige pointed out, glaring at Dan as she did so.

"Why don't you get it? Leo doesn't have a say here anymore. He left Piper! He left her behind and he's still walking around as if he owns the place! And Chris is a threat, I don't trust him, and you want Piper to go and apologise to him? No way! He's gone, he can't threaten Piper and Wyatt anymore, and I'm not having him back in my house!" Dan yelled angrily, and this time all of them glared at him.

"Your house?" Phoebe demanded icily.

"Dan? Sweetie? Why don't you go for a drive and cool off, before you say something you regret." Piper advised in a hard voice.

Dan looked at Piper in shocked betrayal, and shot a look of hatred at Leo.

"I didn't mean that, I got carried away." He said bashfully.

"Uh-huh. Go for a drive Dan, and come back when you've cooled down." Piper said sharply.

"What's your problem with Chris anyway?" Phoebe asked, suddenly feeling protective of the kid.

"I don't trust him, he worked his way in and now he's got you thinking you need him. He can't be trusted, he knows too much about you, he's taken advantage of you and he thinks..."

"That you're not as perfect as you make yourself out to be." Leo said smugly.

Dan hissed in vexation.

"I won't let him hurt her." He snarled, and Leo rolled his eyes.

"And he doesn't want to. Go Dan." Leo said, going to the conservatory with Wyatt.

"I won't let him come back into a position where he can hurt you. He's dangerous. He spreads lies and makes you all vulnerable." Dan said to Piper, who gently shoved him towards the door.

"Go Dan." She said firmly.

Dan snarled, headed for the door, threw it open and slammed it behind him as he left.

"And that ladies and gentlemen is the adult version of a spoilt brat having a temper tantrum." Paige said savagely, and Piper felt her heart twang.

"We need to talk." She said, and dragged Phoebe to the kitchen while Leo fussed over Wyatt who was giggling happily.

XX

Dan drove away, pulling his black leather driving gloves on as he did so. How could they accept this? He was the man of the house now, he was Piper's perfect match, and they showed him no respect!

And Leo was back, and worse than that, he was advocating Piper reconciling with Chris! Leo had stolen Piper from him once before, and now he was encouraging her to see someone who clearly wanted to push Dan out of her life. He couldn't allow that. Chris was dangerous to him. Eventually Piper would listen to him, and after his stupid outburst earlier, she might be more inclined to believe him if he had found out about his girlfriend in Portland. No, he couldn't allow that. Chris was dangerous, and would spread lies about him that would wind up driving Piper from him. He wasn't going to let that happen again.

And there was Leo. Dan was her man now, he was the man of the house, he was Wyatt's new father, not him. He wouldn't stand for that man coming back and trying to steal her for a second time. He would do anything to stop that. Piper belonged with him, and he would protect her, Wyatt and Phoebe until Phoebe got a man of her own.

And then there was Paige. It would be much harder to drive her out than it had Chris, Piper was adamant that she was her real sister. Maybe he should ask his brother for a little help.

No, the sisters needed a strong man to look out for them, protect them from those who would take advantage, or hurt them. Just like Leo, Chris and Paige.

He would protect Piper. He would make sure they didn't hurt her ever again. And if that meant using force, he would do that too. They would have to be gotten rid of, and he would do anything to ensure that. Problem was, turning Piper against Paige and Leo wouldn't be nearly so easy.

Dan scoffed. Figures Leo would take Chris' side. Both of them trying to mess with his perfect relationship with his perfect girl. She deserved perfection, and now that she had it, they were eager to sabotage it.

Leo and Chris. The thought of the two of them made his blood boil. Then something struck him, and he leaned over to the glove compartment. Chris was trying to sabotage Dan's perfect life with Piper. So was Leo. Who was to say there wasn't a reason?

Dan pulled out Leo's old file from the compartment. He had planned to put it in the house, as a testament to the fact that he had been right, to why Piper should listen to him. He knew better than she did. The file would remind her of that, when she had failed to heed his warnings and had gotten burned. And it would serve as a reminder never to fail to listen to him again. The file would show that he was superior to Leo in every way, as he knew he was.

He studied it intently, and looked at the family lineage that had been put in with it. Leo Wyatt had died in 1942, and he still had no explanation for that, which was maddening. But, it was the bottom part that intrigued him. One of the descendant's from the woman Leo had married before World War Two had a second name Perry. Dan underlined it with red pen several times. He then looked at Leo's own family tree.

His father was called Christopher.

Could Chris possibly be a long lost relative of Leo? That would explain everything. Why he was so determined to ruin Dan's relationship with Leo. Dan smiled. Chris was at P3. Time he had a little chat. And if Chris happened to attack him again, well Dan couldn't be blamed for defending himself.

XX

"You want to what?" Phoebe asked, tired more than anything else.

"Phoebe, you know we were far too hard on him. I know he annoys us, but he didn't deserve what we did to him. And you know that as well as I do." Piper said and Phoebe pursed her lips.

"Piper, he never let us have a life! He took Leo away from us, let loads of Elders die,"

"Shame." Piper interjected scathingly.

"And keeps getting us to go after demon after demon, he doesn't let us have a break! He never did! We have lives, and he's determined to see us single and miserable!" she shouted, and Leo glared at her.

"By sending you after demons, he was doing his job." He said, and they all looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Paige asked, and he sighed.

"Before the Source was vanquished for good, it didn't matter, because demons came barging through the door every second day anyway. But after that, I should have been sending you after demons that you could handle, eliminating threats with pre-emptive strikes, just like Chris was making you do. He was doing what a whitelighter usually does with a witch with active powers, sending you after threats he knew you could handle." He explained, and all three of them looked at each other, shame faced.

"Couldn't have told us this a while ago, huh?" Paige asked and he shrugged sheepishly.

"You didn't like him, and he had replaced me, I blamed him for me and Piper, and for Valhalla, so you not liking him sort of cheered me up." He admitted guiltily.

"I ought to blow you to pieces." Piper snapped angrily.

"Look, you guys really hurt the poor kid. He hadn't done anything wrong, and you only did it because Dan encouraged you and made you doubt Chris. After his little display there, I reckon Chris might have been right about something at least. He could be dangerous Piper." Paige reasoned, and Phoebe finally relented.

"She is right about that Piper. He felt like he was on the verge of losing control. And besides...even I have been feeling guilty about what we did to Chris, he didn't deserve that no matter what else he's done. We were too hard on him. We were foul. And I will admit...that I might have deserved a slap. But Piper did too!" she said to Paige, who smirked.

"She can slap me later. Come on, let's get to P3. I can drop the napkins I picked up off while we're there. He still there?" Piper asked Leo, and he nodded.

"Good luck." He said as they left.

"I feel so bad. Do you reckon he'll forgive me?" Piper asked softly as they clambered into the car.

"Eventually he might." Paige said, and her sister sighed as she started the car.

She should never have been so cruel to him. She could only hope he would accept her apology. And if they managed that, then she could worry about making up for everything else they had done to him.

First thing was first. Apologise for everything she had said. And hope to tell he accepted it.

XX

Chris felt physically better as he tousled his hair with his towel. A shower and a shave had been just what he needed. True, he would have preferred that his mother liked him, but he did still feel better.

He sighed sadly. He'd done what loads of other kids had done. Their mother had found a new man, and then the new man had turned out to be a jerk, so he had run away. Problem was, he was told to by his mother and his aunt. He knew he'd done some lousy stuff, but he wished they didn't hate him as much as they did. Seemed all he ever did was make Piper unhappy.

Chris pulled on his jeans, and then set about trying to find his tshirt. It had to be around here somewhere. He froze when he heard the door open, and edged towards the corner, out of sight in case it was his mother.

"I already know you're here Chris. I thought we should talk." Came the hated voice of Dan, and Chris suppressed the urge just to crush his heart as he walked out.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, his voice hostile and his green eyes narrowed.

"I'm the one asking the questions. I believe Piper said she wanted you out of her life. This club is part of her life. And yet, you're here. I'm a bit confused by that Chris. I told you to stay away from Piper. And you ignored me." He said silkily, tightening his black leather gloves as he approached, stalking towards the young, half clad man who would have killed him ages ago if looks could kill.

"Leo said I could come back. I was going to go right after I showered." Chris said coldly.

"Ah, Leo. You two are in this together, aren't you?" Dan asked with a slight smile, and Chris looked at him in genuine confusion.

"Huh?"

"Both of you, trying to drive Piper away from me. I know Chris. I know that he's your father." Dan said with a smug grin, and Chris' jaw dropped.

Months of being in the past, of covering his tracks. How had this pathetic excuse for a man discovered he was Leo's son?

"Yes. You're his son. From one of his so called distant cousins right? The Perrys? Did you actually think you could get away with this?" he asked, and Chris looked at him in shock.

So, he knew he was Leo's son, but thought he was the son of some distant cousin. Still, he was alarmingly close to the truth, and closer than the girls had been since he'd arrived.

"What are they?" Chris asked, pointing to the envelope in Dan's gloved hands.

"The proof that you're his bastard son." Dan said calmly, laying it on the table.

"You're crazy." Chris said, trying to blow it off, but Dan shook his head.

"No Chris. What is crazy is how stupid you are. I'm with Piper. That isn't going to change. Yet you keep trying to split me and her apart, telling her I'm abusive, spreading lies about me. I don't like that. I'm her boyfriend now, and I assure you, what I do with Piper is my own business. And I told you to leave well enough alone, and you didn't. You've been working with Leo to undermine me, undermine my authority in my home, make me look like a fool. And I'm not going to allow it. I am Piper's boyfriend, and I am not going to let you try to drive her away from me. I lost her once, and no one will stop me keeping her now I've got her back. I make the rules now, and I am not going to tolerate your besmirching of my good name. So I want you gone. Gone from my life, gone from hers. Gone from our club. Gone from our home. Gone for good. I don't care where you go. Just get out of our lives. I will take care of Piper, and you will not mess up my perfect relationship, or hers. She has found the man of her dreams, and you are not going to destroy it. Do I make myself clear? Piper chose me, not you. And now, you'll live by my rules. Because if I ever see you again, I will be most unpleasant."Dan ranted, flexing his hands.

Chris looked at Dan incredulously. He had to go, he was crazy. He couldn't allow this guy to hurt his mother in any way. He thought he could dominate his mother's life, tell her what to do, thought he owned her. No, he had to tell Piper, and damn the consequences. She was dating a psycho. He had to protect her, protect Wyatt too, because Dan could easily hurt both of them. He had to get out of here and warn them. And if they never wanted to see him again, so be it. At least they would be safe.

"Whatever." Chris said, shaking his head and turning away from Dan, eager to escape and warn his mother.

And then Dan smacked him on the back of the head.

Chris toppled to the floor, gasping in pain, and he rolled onto his back, ready to blast Dan with his powers. Dan gave him a sadistic smile and fell upon him, gloved hands wrapping around Chris' neck.

Chris gagged in surprise as Dan began to squeeze. Chris tried to focus his powers, but fear and desperation was making it harder to concentrate, and his hands flew to his neck, desperate to reduce Dan's tight grip. Dan gave him a smug, superior smile as he squeezed harder, as he felt Chris kick his legs desperately beneath him.

"My relationship is perfect. I'm perfect. And I won't allow you to interfere with that for any reason." Dan said firmly, smiling as he watched Chris struggle.

Chris tried to bring his telekinesis to bear, but fear was making it more difficult, and as he tried to summon his powers, it was as if they were blocked due to his predicament. Chris tried to orb, but once more the magic wouldn't come. He was magically frozen in fear, with Dan strangling the life out of him with glee.

Chris was gagging, trying desperately to loosen Dan's grip. Why couldn't he escape? He writhed under Dan, the tight hold on his neck making his blood thunder through his head as he struggled to free himself. His legs were kicking feebly under him, trying to force Dan off, but it was to no avail. Dan was bigger and stronger than he was, and with his magic blocked by fear, he could do nothing to remove the bigger man. He pulled desperately at Dan's gloved hands, the leather creaking as he tightened his grip still further, but he was too weak to remove the bigger man. Blood was pounding around Chris' head as he struggled to gain any air into his body. He was losing the struggle, Dan was too strong for him. Overpowered, he was going to die.

Chris made desperate gagging noises, anxious for any air possible, his breath coming in wheezes as his airway was collapsed by Dan. Chris continued to kick his legs, but Dan was on top of his bare chest, and nothing Chris could do would remove him, not without access to his powers. Black spots were appearing in Chris' eyes as he struggled in terror, trying valiantly to free himself from Dan's murderous grip. His face was going deep red due to lack of air, and his eyes were bulging wildly as he struggled to remain alive.

Dan smiled down at Chris as he felt the boy's fight start to leave him. He was kicking his legs less, and his attempts to remove his hands were becoming weaker.

"I am perfection. You're nothing. Now you see why you should have listened to me. Piper is mine, and you aren't going to stop it. Nothing will." Dan said, savouring the look of furious terror in Chris' bulging eyes.

Chris gave a final desperate gasp, a last attempt to get some air into his failing body. But, his powers blocked by fear, he was unable to do anything, and he began to weaken, Dan pressing his advantage. A second later, his struggle ended.

Chris gurgled one last time, before going still. His legs came to a stop beneath Dan, and his hands fell from Dan's, lying across his stomach. His legs and fingers twitched as his body calmed down. His face was bright red, a result of not having gotten any air. His tongue was thick and swollen, his mouth open in a last, desperate breath. And with a final defeated gurgle, Chris' eyes rolled back in his head and he knew no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Chris!  
> Dan's true colours have been revealed, but is it too late to save Chris? Why did Chris' powers seize up when Dan attacked him? And what will happen in the final chapter of this story?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sisters undo their mistake, Piper and the others come to a realisation, and Dan experiences a reckoning

Past Mistakes

Dan smiled tightly as Chris stopped breathing. He wouldn't interfere with him and Piper anymore. He had her all to himself, at least for now. All he had to do next was force out Paige and Leo, and he would have the perfect family, the one Piper deserved, with her perfect husband.

Dan looked down at Chris' body, not feeling anything but satisfaction. The boy had tried to take Piper away from him, and had paid the ultimate price. Dan surveyed Chris' sprawled body smugly, savouring his red face, protruding tongue and his closed eyes. Chris was gone, and wouldn't bother him anymore. He had enforced his rules the only way he could: force. Chris had refused to follow his rules, and had died for it.

Dan let go of Chris' neck, standing and was just about to grab the files from the table when he heard the door opening, and Piper and the sister's voices carrying down the stairs. If he went to get the files, they would spot him, and Paige could turn the other two against him if he was found standing over Chris' body. He had no choice, he had to flee. Swearing at his carelessness, and fearing Chris would somehow manage to interfere from beyond the grave, he made good his escape. He couldn't allow Chris to mess up his relationship with Piper. Not when he was so close. And if he had to force Piper not to grieve, then so be it.

XX

"Chris? Are you still here?" Piper called softly as she headed down the stairs.

And froze as she saw what lay on the floor.

Chris, half naked, not breathing, his legs sprawled and his hands at odd angles, his eyes closed, his face red and his tongue hanging out. His long hair pooled around his head. And vicious bruises on his neck.

"Chris!" she cried in shock as she and her sisters ran down the stairs, looking frantic.

"He isn't breathing." Phoebe said worriedly, skidding to her knees to his right as Piper took his head into her lap.

"Leo!" Piper hollered, and Paige looked worriedly at the bruises on his neck.

"He's been strangled, Piper, we need to get him breathing again." Paige said, and she nodded, lying his head back onto the floor and breathing air into him.

She looked at him desperately, while Phoebe pushed on his chest, trying desperately to elicit a response.

"Come on sweetie, don't give up on me, wake up." Piper pleaded, trying again.

"Leo!" Paige screamed, tears in her eyes as she feared their whitelighter would never wake up.

Piper was looking at Chris in a panic. Who could have done this? No one else could have gotten into the club, not before her and her sisters got here. And now, poor Chris was dying...if not dead already. Chris, the kid who had only been trying to protect her. The kid who was worried about her, trying to protect her son, and she had forced him away time and again, when all he wanted to do was help. What sort of person did that make her? If he died, she would never forgive herself.

"Please Chris, come on honey, wake up." She pleaded, tears in her own eyes as Paige took his hand while Phoebe continued to press on his chest.

Piper couldn't believe it. She'd forced him out, cast him away, when all he wanted to do was help. A horrible feeling was in her gut. This was her club, and very few people could have done something like this. And she could automatically rule out a demon, strange though that sounded. After all, a demon would have thrown fireballs, there would be a lot more mess, and Chris would probably be the triumphant one. No, this was different. She couldn't lose him, not now. She had to make things up to him, apologise, start treating him properly. She should never have let Dan turn her against him. The look in his eyes when she had said those things was haunting her. She couldn't let that be the last thing she had said to the boy. She wouldn't.

"Come on Chris, wake up, please! Leo!" Piper screamed, and breathed air into the boy once more.

And Paige's heart leapt for joy as Chris suddenly squeezed her hand in surprise, and he jolted upwards, inhaling heavily, gasping for air, while Piper sighed in relief, hugging the boy to her tightly, running her hand through his hair as he did so.

"Piper?" he asked, coughing weakly, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

He was alright, he was alive. And then, she felt herself strangely pleased as he returned the hug in relief. Sighing in relief, she rocked him gently, vowing not to let anything like that happen to him again. How odd, that she should feel so maternal all of a sudden.

She was disturbed from her musings as Phoebe and Paige also hugged him in relief, trapping him safely in between the three of them as Piper held him protectively.

XX

"Hear you are honey. Strong tea, two sugars." Phoebe said in her baby voice, sitting beside him on one of the couches, as he shivered.

"Thanks." He said weakly, feeling a little better after he took a sip.

Leo had finally appeared. It turned out he had been in the middle of bathing Wyatt and had been drying him off enough to come to their aid, which Chris seemed to accept with relative good grace. But he strangely wouldn't allow Leo to heal his neck.

"Buddy, are you sure you don't want me to heal you?" Leo asked in concern, sitting in the table facing the boy.

"Yeah Leo. You can heal me later, after Darryl gets here and does his thing." He said, and Leo's eyes widened in relaxation.

"Oh now I get it. So it was a mortal?" Leo asked, and Chris nodded, not looking at Piper, who was sitting next to him stroking his hair absent mindedly, while taking in the state of the hoodie he was wearing with a critical eye. He could do with some new clothes.

"Did you recognise him?" Phoebe asked in concern as she sat down beside Leo, having caught a flicker of something from the boy.

Leo looked at the look on Chris' face, and frowned. By the looks of things, Chris had recognised his attacker, but didn't want to say. But why wouldn't he? Surely he wanted his attacker caught. Paige, on Chris' other side and searching his face with round eyes, suddenly narrowed them and looked at Leo significantly, bouncing Wyatt on her knee. And then, it clicked.

"Chris, if you know who attacked you, you have to tell us." Piper wheedled quietly, and Chris sighed.

"I don't want to tell you." He said sadly, and fury flooded Leo.

Dan. Dan had tried to kill Chris. And because Chris was afraid of how Piper would react, he didn't want to say. Leo snarled. Dan. The so called 'perfect man'. He was going to rip his head off with his bare hands.

With Dan unavailable, Leo glared at Piper, who wasn't looking but was looking intently at Chris, a concerned expression on her face.

"Chris, listen to me. I should never have said the stuff I said to you. It was cruel, and totally unjustified, you haven't done anything to warrant me treating you like that. And least of all, I don't want you to think that we don't care what happens to you, because we do. You were nearly murdered Chris, and we want to stop the person who did it to you, we care about you. If you know who it was, you have to trust us so we can help you. And I'm so, so sorry for what I said to you. Please don't keep this to yourself because of what I said to you." She pleaded, and Chris looked at his shoes.

He'd nearly been killed, here in his mother's club where he was meant to be safe. And it was her boyfriend who had done it. But she had just said that she was sorry, that she didn't mean what she had said. Despite what he'd been told when he was a kid, sorry didn't make everything better. She'd hurt him, but unknowing as she was as to who he truly was, she couldn't even begin to guess how much she had hurt him. But she also wanted to help him. And he wanted to tell her, but yet he didn't. While he wanted to tell her, because it would be proof that Dan was trouble and hopefully protect her, he also didn't, knowing how much it would upset his mother and he didn't want to be the cause of that again. He sighed sadly. What was he meant to do?

"Piper?" Darryl called as he entered the club, scene of crime officers in tow.

"Hey Darryl." Leo said, and their policeman friend narrowed his eyes as he took a look at Chris' neck.

"Hey pal, you don't look too good." He said worriedly, but Chris waved him off.

"I'll be fine." He assured him, though everyone was giving him a sceptical glance.

"I'll handle the kid, you gather the evidence." Darryl said, and the other officers went about their business while Darryl sat down in front of Chris.

"Chris, I need you to tell me what happened, and seeing as how you called me, I'm assuming it wasn't a demon." He said, and Chris nodded.

"A demon I could have handled. It was...I'm sorry Piper, but it was Dan." Chris said, and the others went silent.

Leo and Paige looked at each other darkly, Leo's fist clenching in anger. Phoebe looked at their whitelighter in shock, as though about to deny what Chris had said. But Chris was focused only on his mother. Piper's eyes were full of hurt, full of betrayal and then full of anger, and her hands flexed as though she wanted to blow something up. Chris flinched, fearing she was angry at him and backed closer to Paige as he saw the furious, blazing expression on his mother's face.

"Dan did this?" she asked in a cold, deadly voice, and still terrified, Chris nodded to his mother.

Leo was looking at Chris worriedly, he had never seen Chris cower in front of Piper before, usually he was fairly open to the idea of opposing Piper, and weather her temper much better than most would, and far better than he did. And then Leo noticed that she was flexing her hands, and he gently pushed them down, giving her a pointed glare before indicating Chris, and her face softened as she relaxed.

"Yeah. He thought I was out to ruin you and his relationship, that I was trying to drive you away from him. He kept saying that he was your perfect man, that he was perfect, that he was all you would ever need, and he was insistent that he was the man of the house now, and that he would make all your decisions for you. And because I didn't see him as the perfect person he thinks he is, I had to go." Chris explained softly, and Piper let out a growl.

"I'm going to kill him." She vowed in a deadly voice, and Chris looked up at her with a hopeful expression.

"You believe me?" he asked in shock, and she closed her eyes, as though pained by the question, but then again she couldn't blame him for asking.

'Yes. When he left, he was having a temper tantrum, trying to stop me coming here to see you. And he was furious that Leo was there. And he did turn me against you, and like an idiot I let him. And if that idiot thinks he can order me around he can think again. Who the hell does he think he is? What was I thinking?" Piper wailed, and Chris suppressed a grin of triumph as Leo got up and held Piper to him. Maybe he wasn't down and out yet.

"So what, Dan's become a believer of medieval treatment of women? And here we thought he was a good guy. Chris, I feel awful, we should never have let him turn us against you." Phoebe said, and he looked at her in surprise, that was the first genuine apology he'd gotten from Phoebe.

"Wait, Dan as in your ex boyfriend Dan?" Darryl asked, scribbling furiously in his notepad.

"Yes. He was saying all that stuff, saying it was his club now, his home now, his family now. I turned around to get away from him and he attacked me, then he started to...strangle me." Chris said, massaging his neck self consciously.

"So, he came back and started dating you again, and now he tries to kill the kid?" Darryl asked Piper and she bared her teeth.

"Apparently. But that was only after the bastard manipulated me into throwing Chris out of my life, and moved into my home. I'm going to kill him!" she stormed.

"Piper, I'm sorry." Chris said miserably, and she was stopped in mid rant by the sound of his voice, as though he were about to cry, and she sat down on the couch beside him and pulled him into another hug.

"No Chris. I'm the one who's sorry. I never should have let him make me doubt you. This isn't your fault. All those horrible things I said to you, I never should have said them to you sweetie. You didn't deserve any of it. You were only trying to protect me, and I threw you out, forced you away. This isn't your fault, ok?" she asked, and Chris nodded, the urge just to tell her who he was overpowering him slightly, but he forced it down brutally.

"Charming, the guy moves in and makes you kick him out. So what were you doing, why did he attack?" Darryl asked, a frown on his face, looking at Chris, who's eyes did look a little watery.

Chris frowned, not wanting to cause his mother any more pain. Despite what she seemed to believe, he actually wasn't out to make her miserable.

"I was trying to protect her. I kept warning him that if he attacked Piper, I would kill him. I also didn't respond well to his methods to deal with me, trying to make himself out as more powerful and more clever than me, treat me like dirt, act all superior and like I was a disobedient kid, which was always going to piss me off. I guess I didn't show him proper respect for a man as perfect as he was, and he attacked me." Chris said bitterly.

Paige smiled slightly at his treatment of Dan.

"That's my boy." She said proudly, and he grinned ruefully at her.

"But why didn't you orb out?" Leo asked curiously, and Chris averted his eyes.

He didn't want to tell them. It would only cause pain, it would only hurt them and probably turn them against him all over again, and he didn't think he could cope with that happening a second time.

"Chris?" Darryl asked, just as the door opened again.

"Piper?" Victor called, descending the stairs, his eyes going wide as he saw the police.

Chris smiled ecstatically as he saw his grandfather, but then forced away his smile. Victor didn't know who he was either, why should he? Once again, here was someone else he loved, who he couldn't tell anything to.

"Dad, hi." Piper said in surprise as he hugged her, then received one from Phoebe and Paige.

"What's going on?" he asked, nodding at the police as he gave Leo his customary cold look, making Chris grin slightly.

"Oh nothing, only a man who I fell for because I thought he was decent and normal turns out to be an insane, jealous psychopath with a medieval approach to women, who thinks he can control me, and then murder the poor kid he manipulated me into throwing out!" she raged, and Victor looked at Chris, his face a picture of concern.

"Wow, Piper, you've picked another stinker." Victor commented, and Leo glared at him while Phoebe, Paige, Darryl and Chris quickly hid their smiles.

"Alright Chris, come on. We know why he attacked you, the mess on your neck is pretty obvious as to how he attacked you but, why didn't you just get out of it?" Darryl asked, and Chris saw the look his grandfather was giving him, a look of encouragement, and he relented. But he didn't think it was going to be pretty.

"Because of Wyatt." He said miserably, and all of them looked at him, the atmosphere suddenly very tense.

"What's Wyatt got to do with it?" Piper asked, wondering if at long last she was going to find out anything about her son in the future.

"Everything. He's why I came back from the future. But I didn't tell you the truth. I didn't come back to protect Wyatt from evil. I came back to...stop him turning evil." He finished in almost a whisper.

Piper looked at him, angry shock filling her, and she was about to open her mouth to give him a tongue lashing when Leo caught her eye and shook his head slightly, his eyes narrowed at Chris, but not in anger, not in suspicion, but just wariness.

"Wyatt wouldn't turn evil." Phoebe said confidently, and Chris snorted derisively, and Darryl was beginning to regret taking the conversation down this road. First off, he didn't want to know about anything in any future, and he certainly didn't want to be part of this when the kid from the future tells them all that the little kid he babysat was evil when he was all grown up.

"He does. You know how when I first got here I told you the world was destroyed by the titans? It wasn't. It was destroyed by Wyatt." Chris said plainly, and all of them looked at each other, anger growing at him, but Darryl's money was on the kid with the bruises on his neck.

"Wyatt's the epitome of all good magic, he wouldn't..." Phoebe protested, but Chris cut her off with a sharp look.

"Yes he would, and he does. When he's fifteen, Piper...dies," he said, choking over the emotions that always brought with it and ignoring the horrified looks on the others faces, "and Wyatt is left all alone. He's angry at the world, and because something happens to him around this time, something twists him in all the wrong ways, he becomes evil. By the time he was fifteen, he had united the underworld under his leadership, and he was more powerful than any Source that's ever lived. Phoebe and Paige didn't have a clue, they thought he was just lashing out because he was angry about his mom dying. But Wyatt was already very twisted. He manufactured a crisis for the magical world. He went after the Cleaners, he didn't like any beings that could be powerful enough to stop him, and by this time he had some serious juice, and they were getting worried about him and were planning to stop him. He got to them first. He convinced the Elders that the Cleaners were plotting to subvert the Grand Design, and take over. So, while the Elders, Phoebe and Paige went after the Cleaners, he was waiting to take over. And as soon as the Cleaners were gone, he attacked.

He set the demons loose on the world, exposing magic. He then stormed into a press conference and killed the President on live TV, and proclaimed himself Emperor. The entire magical community was exposed, and because they were afraid, the humans started killing magic users, but good ones, not the demons that were helping him. Good magic users were forced into hiding, and Wyatt kept up his offensive. He attacked the Elders, the streets were full of their falling bodies. And then he killed Phoebe, forcing Paige onto the run. And it just got worse. He kidnapped me, and I promised I would serve him if he let Paige go, but he betrayed me and killed her. With no Charmed Ones left, the world was pretty much doomed. Thousands were dead, no one could stop him. Everyone who could pose a threat, witches, whitelighters, hunters, slayers, all of them were hunted down and killed, brutally and publically. I was the only one left, and I came back to stop him." He explained, tears in his eyes as he saw just how horrified his family were at the news of what their eldest child became.

"My god...Wyatt...I'm a terrible mother." Piper said weakly, sitting down on the table, and Chris knelt down in front of her, looking up at her pleadingly, shaking his head desperately.

"No! Don't you dare say that! You're a good mother, you're what kept him good for so long, it was only when you died that we lost him." He explained firmly, and Piper gave him a weak smile.

"God...he killed us. He's not getting any Christmas presents from me this year." Paige said as she strolled past the police and poured them all something considerably stronger than tea.

"That's why I didn't want to tell you. I was afraid, well I was afraid you wouldn't believe me, that you would hate me. And then that if you did, you would change your treatment of Wyatt. He's not bad, there is good in him. I came back here to stop him being hurt enough to do what he did." Chris said sadly, and Leo closed his eyes.

"I can't believe it...but then, it makes sense, why you're the way you are. Chris, I'm so sorry for what he's done to you. He messed with your powers too didn't he?" he asked, and Chris nodded.

"It was when he caught me and Paige. He insisted I betrayed him, and was pleased he had caught me, so he screwed up my powers, so that if I were dying I couldn't escape myself, because I would have done, just to deny him the satisfaction. So now if my life is in danger, I'm trapped at their mercy." Chris explained and the Halliwells and Victor all looked vaguely sick.

"What went wrong?" Phoebe asked softly, tears pouring down her face, and Chris hated himself for doing this to them.

"So you came back to save him, even after what he did. You must really care for him." Victor said with gratitude, and Chris blushed a little.

Darryl, who had been too shocked by hearing the future wasn't all sunshine and roses, was suddenly struck by a curious thought.

"Thank you. And no matter what, you have our help all the way now." Piper vowed firmly, and the sisters, Leo and Victor nodded.

"And while you shouldn't have been trying to protect us, thank you for that too. Finding out your nephew is the future of all evil doesn't do much for your mood." Phoebe said nervously, looking at the baby cooing on the couch.

"And we will help Chris save Wyatt, but first we need to deal with Dan." Leo growled, and Piper nodded.

"Too true. Darryl, your boys got everything you need?" Piper asked, taking charge, and he nodded.

"Yeah. We'll need photos of Chris, and videos if you have them, but other than that we should have everything we need to secure a conviction." Darryl said cheerfully.

"Guys, Wyatt..." Chris protested, but Leo shook his head, cutting him off.

"Wyatt isn't the one who was nearly murdered. You were. You matter too Chris. And if your parents ever favoured your brother over you, they were pretty lousy." Leo said condemningly.

Chris looked at him in surprise. Yeah, his mother had always treated him better than Wyatt, but here was his hated father, once more taking his side, and Chris smiled a little.

"Thanks." He said.

"But how did Dan think he was going to get away with this? I mean, surely he knows Piper would notice a dead body in the middle of her club." Paige said, but Chris shook his head.

"If he had killed me, you wouldn't have known, my body doesn't belong here, it would have faded away." He explained sadly, and Piper snarled, suddenly feeling the urge to wrap the boy in cotton wool.

"I'm going to kill him."

Chris thought about it for a second, and it hit him.

"He'll go back to the manor." He said, and Leo looked at him doubtfully.

"He just tried to kill you Chris, he's probably making a run for it. Speaking of, how didn't you die?" he asked, and Chris shrugged.

"I assume my brain didn't die, so I didn't die. Someone else, Phoebe for example, probably would have died straight away after that." He said, smiling a little.

She smiled at him.

"Thanks...hey!" she said as she realised what he was implying.

"Make for the manor? It doesn't make sense." Paige said, but Darryl shook his head.

"He might be on to something. Dan thinks he's perfect, thinks he alone can decide what you lot should do. He thinks he can control Piper, more fool he. I'm willing to bet he would go and show himself as the perfect man during such a crisis, all the while delighting over the fact that he caused Chris' death." He reasoned.

"And probably while trying to force out Leo and me." Paige added darkly.

"Sir?" an officer asked, and Darryl went over to talk to him, his brow furrowed.

"Chris, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault." Piper said in despair, but he shook his head.

"No it isn't, it's not your fault your boyfriends a nutter." He said, and she smiled softly.

"You are sweet. And from now on, you won't hear a single complaint about how many demons you make us vanquish." She said, to the nods of agreement from her sisters.

"Yeah anything to save this guy. I'm Victor by the way. Thank you, for trying to protect him and the girls." He said, extending his hand, which Chris awkwardly shook.

"It's ok."

Chris looked at his family, an odd feeling running through him. It was like they were just short of knowing, and he didn't know whether he wanted to tell them the truth or not, he didn't have a clue. His mother's hugs, his father's approval, his aunt's affection, his grandfather's support, all taking his side suddenly, it made him feel the happiest he had been in a while.

But, Dan was out there, and he had business to settle with him. He had to be stopped before he hurt anyone else. He once more massaged his neck nervously, the thought of confronting Dan again making him nervous. It wasn't that he was scared of him, it was he was scared of how much Dan had forced his mother to change. His mother, the stubborn, powerful, opinionated matriarch of the Halliwell family, and he was trying to change her into some meek housewife with no life and no thoughts of her own. No, he wouldn't let that stand.

Suddenly he became aware of someone taking his photo, and swore a second later as he was momentarily blinded as the police filed out. All except for Darryl, who was looking as though Christmas had come early and he practically skipped over to them all.

"What's got you so happy?" Paige asked, and he grinned.

"I am finally the one in the know! I know something that all of you don't! Well, other than Chris anyway. Most of it is guesswork, but the entire thing makes sense, and it feels great having the shoe on the other foot!" he crowed happily, and they all looked at him as if he were mad.

Except Chris, who saw what he was holding. It was Dan's file. Surely Darryl wouldn't believe Dan's theory? But no, he was smarter than that, and Chris wondered. Had Darryl possibly used his policeman's mind to figure out the truth? He froze slightly, watching him warily as he felt a warm glow rush over his neck, his bruises gone a second later.

"Thanks Leo. Could you fix this too?" Chris asked softly, lifting his tshirt and allowing Leo to heal the bruise Dan had given him, which made Piper hiss when she saw it.

"He hit you too? I'm going to kill him. Alright Darryl, do you have a plan for how to get my bastard ex in jail?" she asked, and he smiled.

"No, but I do have a way to make you feel lousier than you already do. Can I?" he pleaded, and they shrugged.

"Great! Now, this is Leo's old war file." Darryl said, showing them, and Piper rolled her eyes.

"For god sake, he doesn't give it a rest! That was years ago!" she snapped, and Chris glowered at the mention of it.

"Yeah, he was probably going to bring it into the house and leave it as a reminder of him being right and you being wrong. The perfect man was right, and the perfect woman is put in her place." He sneered, still looking warily at Darryl.

"Did you meet Dan in the future?" Paige asked curiously, but he shook his head.

"No, I could tell he was a wanker in this time. But I did remember him getting arrested in the future. His wife cheated on him with another man, and he was furious that she dared sleep with someone less perfect than him, do something that made him look stupid and weak. Nearly killed her if I remember rightly. Losing you screwed up his marbles." He said to Piper, who looked sickened at the thought.

"Great. I dump him, he goes nuts, tries to kill some woman in the future and tries to kill you now." She lamented, and Chris longed to hug her to make her feel better, to stop her feeling so guilty, but he couldn't, she didn't know who he was.

"Anyway," Darryl said loudly, drawing their attention back to him, "he went a little mad with his red pen on it. Turns out Leo's dad was called Christopher." He commented idly, and Chris froze.

Darryl was on to him. He had to be. How else could he make them feel lousy, except by telling them that the kid they'd been mistreating had been family all along? Piper in particular. He couldn't decide what to do. Part of him wanted them to know, to find out who he truly was. For loads of reasons. Because a small, savage part of him, the part that still stung over his mother's brutal rejection, wanted to see their faces when they found out the truth. In the hope that it would make his job easier. That they would finally accept him for who he truly was. That he could perhaps try and build a relationship with his father for the first time.

The other part didn't want them to know. He didn't want to see how upset they would be. How revolted. He was afraid they would hate him, and he didn't think he could take his mother's rejection a second time. He didn't want the positive feelings he had for Leo to disappear. He was afraid everything would become about Wyatt again as soon as they found out. It was selfish, he knew, but he had always been in Wyatt's shadow.

What was he going to do? Did he stop Darryl, or did he let him go on?

"So?" Piper asked, uninterested.

"Well after he told us about the future, I got to wondering. Wyatt is really evil, really powerful, utterly unstoppable. Right?" he asked Chris.

And then he mouthed 'do you want them to know' at him, while everyone looked to him for his answer.

"Yeah." He said, and shrugged his shoulders at Darryl as everyone turned back to face him, and he nodded.

"Exactly. So, why wouldn't Chris just come back and kill him? He's a smart kid. He's powerful too. Why not just get you lot out of the way, kill him, then go back to a happy future?" Darryl asked, and Victor frowned.

"I figured it was some magical law thing we wouldn't understand, but it doesn't make sense."

Darryl smiled, and Chris felt his stomach start to flutter, nervousness creeping in. He didn't know what he wanted. Well he did, he wanted to bolt, but with Piper and Paige flanking him protectively, and Phoebe and Leo blocking the way, he had little chance of escaping.

"Well, how about I put it to you that Chris cares about Wyatt? More than he ought to, considering what he's done." Darryl said, and Chris blushed and shot him an exasperated look, then glared pointedly at Phoebe, and Darryl looked a little sheepish.

"He's Wyatt's boyfriend!" Phoebe exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"I knew you were going to say that. No. Ew." Chris said firmly, and she pouted slightly.

"Consider. Chris comes from the future to save Wyatt. Wyatt has sent the whole world straight to hell, killed everyone Chris cares about, so why not just kill him and be done with it? No, he comes here determined to save Wyatt. To aid in this, he's part witch, part whitelighter, which means he can relate to the ones he needs, the Charmed Ones. But despite being able to relate to them, they bitch and moan about him every day when he's just trying to save their kid and protect his future, and is just doing his job. The poor kid has the fate of the world hanging on his shoulders, a future that's wrecked, and his life in the present is nearly as crappy." Darryl said, clearly enjoying the looks of guilt on the faces of the girls and Leo.

Chris did have to smile a little. Yeah, he had had a crappy time of it recently. Especially in the last two weeks. And part of him did want to see the looks on the girls faces. And Darryl was clearly enjoying himself, bless him. Must be nice knowing something he could use against the girls for a change.

"So why put up with it? Why not just kill Wyatt and go home, tell some girl he saved the world, settle down and have a kid or three?" he asked, and they all shrugged.

"Because I love Wyatt too much." Chris said quietly, and Darryl nodded.

"Despite what Wyatt's done, he still loves him and wants to save him. Why would that be?" Darryl asked, smiling broadly.

"Come on then, explain it then if you know everything, we have to stop Dan." Leo said irritably, wondering what was taking Darryl so long, and Darryl bowed his head obligingly.

"Let's look at the evidence. Leo's father's name was Christopher. Chris was determined to protect Piper from Dan. He came back to save Wyatt from turning evil. He has Prue's power, telekinesis. He's part whitelighter. He's a little obsessed with getting you to vanquish demons, to protect Wyatt. He thinks Wyatt is more important than he is. He's pretty good looking. He has daddy issues, something of a family trait, no offence intended. He was with Paige when he died, and he surrendered to evil to try and save her. He was really hurt when Piper kicked him out, and he ran away because he thought it was what Piper wanted, and didn't come back until he was persuaded to by Leo. He came to help save Paige and has been guiding the girls, putting up with their crap when he didn't have to. So, why would poor Chris subject himself to this, when he can come back, kill the baby and be back in time for supper?" Darryl asked, clearly enjoying being the one in the know for a change.

Chris thought about everything Darryl just said. Wow, I deserve a medal, he thought irritably.

And then, the penny dropped, and Chris knew his secret was out, as Victor turned and stared at Chris, a huge smile appearing on his face and he repressed the urge to go and hug his new grandson, who was smiling at him, as though uncertain of his response.

"Oh! I know! It's brilliant! I know!" Victor said excitedly, acting like a kid, making the others stare at him as if he'd sprouted another head.

"It's great knowing something they don't isn't it? I love how it feels, being the one in the know, having all the power!" Darryl said with a grin, and Chris rolled his eyes.

"Great. I come back to stop Wyatt turning evil, and I turn Darryl into the new Source instead by getting him drunk on power. Typical." He said wryly.

And then it finally clicked in Piper's head as she looked at Phoebe by accident, and suddenly, a nova went off in her head as everything Darryl had said, her father's reaction, and everything Chris had done all finally made alarming sense. Chris looked at her with his beautiful green eyes, looking at her nervously, the expression on his face making it clear that if they didn't tread very carefully, he was going to bolt, and she would be lucky to ever see him again. He was shaking slightly in trepidation as her mouth opened in shock, and her hand fell to her stomach.

He was hers. He was her baby boy. Wyatt's baby brother.

Everything made sense now. Why he was so determined to protect Wyatt, to save him. His unwillingness to allow Dan to date her. Why he didn't let himself get close to them. His exasperation with the girls all the time. His issues with Leo. His witchlighter nature. His telekinesis. His orbing. His green eyes. His traditional Halliwell good looks. Why he had been so devastated when she had turned on him. And her and Leo's own protective instincts towards him that were developing suddenly.

"You're my son." She breathed in wonder, and the others all looked at her in shock.

Leo quickly turned to stare at him, and he could see Chris hurriedly building up emotional armour. The boy he had mistreated, made life a misery for, threatened with death...he was his son.

Chris looked up at Leo, then sniggered as Leo promptly keeled over and fainted.

"Hmm, he took that better than I expected actually." He commented wryly.

"You're my son...my little boy." Piper said facing her son directly and laying her hand on his cheek gently.

"Ew!" Phoebe exclaimed, breaking the silence, and Chris flinched, and Piper turned on her sister, maternal protective instincts kicking in.

"I hit on you!" she wailed, and Chris rolled his eyes.

"Hey I can arrest her!" Darryl said cheerfully, enjoying the looks on the others faces, and gently poking Leo with his toe.

"You risked your own existence..." Paige said in awe, taking in every aspect of her nephew.

"Wyatt's more important." He said, as if by rote, and Piper shook her head fiercely.

"No he isn't. You're my son too. And you're the bravest man I've ever met. And I am so very proud of you." She said, proud of her boy.

"Thanks mom." He said, blushing, and she looked at him in surprise.

"Mom?" she asked, taken aback.

He cast his eyes down nervously, looking upset.

"I'm sorry, I meant Piper, I didn't think..." he babbled, but she smiled softly, and turned his face to her so she could look into his eyes.

"You can call me mom if you want." She said quietly, and he looked at her searchingly, and she reached over and wrapped her son in a tight loving hug, and was delighted to feel him return it.

"Move over you, I want to hug my grandson." Victor said, hugging Chris and making the kid smile.

"Thanks grandpa. You're awesome." He said, and Victor grinned smugly at the girls.

"Hear that? I'm awesome." He said proudly.

"Oh sweetie...please don't let Darryl arrest me, I didn't know I was hitting on my nephew!" Phoebe pleaded hugging him tightly, and Chris was so surprised that he didn't initially return it.

"I'll think about it." He said, and she looked at him worriedly while Paige hugged him too.

"To think that bastard nearly stopped us finding out about our nephew..." she said, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks aunt Paige, for taking my side." He said fondly, and she smiled, stroking his hair gently.

"Ha! Suck on that Jessica Fletcher!" Darryl crowed and they all laughed, except Victor, who looked most affronted.

"Hey! I like Murder She Wrote!" he protested, earning him some strange looks.

Leo groaned and sat up, looking at Chris worriedly.

"I'm your father...and let me guess, that's the thing that repeated. I was a lousy dad to you wasn't I?" he asked nervously, and Chris nodded coldly.

But then to Leo's delight, his son's eyes softened a little.

"But you've done pretty well today." He admitted, and Leo smiled broadly and hugged Chris, who awkwardly returned it.

"I kicked my own son out of the house, told him I never wanted to see him again." Piper whispered to herself, looking at the hurt look that she knew she had put there.

While it seemed like she was forgiven, she knew it would take a long time for him to get over the betrayal she had wrought upon him. Feeling sick with herself, she looked to Darryl.

"How do we stop Dan?" she asked.

It had been bad enough when she thought he had tried to kill her whitelighter. Now she knew he had tried to kill her son. He was in for a world of pain.

"We don't. I do." Chris said firmly, and Leo smirked slightly.

"Um, you realise your mother is going to fight that plan all the way?" he asked, and Chris nodded, rolling his eyes as he did so.

"Damn right I am. Chris, he nearly killed you! And it's my fault you got hurt. You're not going anywhere near him." Piper said firmly, and Chris narrowed his eyes.

Piper knew the truth instantly. Here was the only living Halliwell who could outdo her. He was probably the only one in the family who could go up against her and hold his own, if not win. But then, to her surprise, Chris' eyes softened and turned into a pleading expression.

"Please mom. I need to do this. I need to be the one to deal with him. Besides, I want to see the expression on his face when he sees I'm still alive. Let me deal with him, please." He asked, his voice not quite pleading.

Piper looked at him, and had to admit, the look he was giving her was adorable, and she knew she would only be able to say no to him a limited number of times as he grew up. The others were all watching with fascination, Leo grinning slightly. Yep, this kid was going to have his mother and most likely his big brother wrapped around his little finger.

"He has to Piper. He needs to face his fears." Leo said sagely, and Chris smiled at him.

Piper sighed irritably.

"Alright fine. But we're all going to be there, and if he so much as looks at you funny, he goes boom. Got it?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Got it mom." He said fondly, and Darryl, still ecstatic that he had known something before the girls for once, and confident in his belief that he was now better than a TV detective, turned to Chris curiously.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, and Chris gave a grin that sent shivers down all of their spines.

XX

Dan entered the manor, confident. He'd taken the long way home, so as not to be connected in any way with the crime. He couldn't have Piper suspecting anything was amiss, that simply wouldn't do. But there was still the fact of the files. He would think of something. And if that didn't work, he would simply tell Piper to forget them. He couldn't have her believing anything bad of him, no matter if it she felt it was justified. All he'd done was facilitate their relationship, gotten a distraction out of the way. Nothing wrong with that.

Now he could focus on Leo and Paige. Once they were out of the way, nothing would stop him and Piper from being together, happy in the house, with him the ideal husband and she the dutiful, obedient wife.

"Piper?" he called, entering the conservatory, and saw something that made his heart stop.

Chris was sitting in the armchair, perfectly at ease, his green eyes narrowed dangerously, his fingers flexing in anticipation, and he didn't have a mark on him.

"What the..."

"Hello Dan. What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Chris said coldly.

Dan couldn't believe it. He had killed him! And yet he still came back to try and ruin his relationship, he was still determined to turn Piper against him!

"You can't be here, you're dead!" Dan spat, and Chris bared his teeth in a predatory fashion.

"Yeah, I nearly was. But Piper got to me in time. She knows all about you now Dan. It's over." He teased smugly, and Dan flexed his gloved hands, eager to wrap them around this throat and snap Chris' neck like a twig.

Dan smiled, sure of himself.

"She chose me over you once before boy. She'll do it again." He said confidently, and Chris gave a bark of laughter.

"No she won't. Trust me Dan. Now she knows who I really am, she'll never side with you against me again. She feels bad enough for doing it last time. Now, it'll always be me before you." Chris said smugly.

In the cupboard under the stairs, Leo grinned at Piper.

"Confident isn't he?" he whispered, and she smiled fondly.

"Mommy's boy." She said proudly.

"Piper will do what I tell her. I told you, I'm not going to have you interfere in my relationship. Now, get out of my house!" Dan yelled angrily, and Chris rolled his eyes.

"You don't get it do you? This isn't your house, it never will be, and what's more, your relationship is over. You manipulated her into getting rid of me once before, it won't happen again." Chris sneered.

Dan snarled and took a step towards Chris, but the boy held his ground and looked at him in contempt.

"You're pathetic." He said simply, and anger coloured Dan's cheeks.

"I am not! You are! I'm Piper's perfect man, I will protect her and keep her safe from the likes of you, and nothing will ever interfere in our relationship again!" he roared, taking another step towards Chris, who refused to back down.

"There's nothing perfect about you Dan. You're jealous, possessive, a bully and a fool. Piper could date a turd and still do better than you. You're abusive and dangerous, you aren't perfect, and I'm not going to let you hurt Piper. You don't have any authority here." He said firmly, and felt stronger considering he was back in his own home.

Dan was close to losing control.

"How dare you question me? I am the master of this house, and you will treat me with respect! I will not have you filling Piper's head with lies about me! I'm who she deserves! She should never have taken up with Leo, I warned her what would happen, and he proved me right! She can't manage without me to protect her, and when I get my files back I will explain to her in exacting detail how much of a fool she was, I'll show her how right I was!" he roared, and Chris felt fury unlike he had never known pulse through him.

This mortal scum thought he could dictate to his mother, belittle her, take over her life? He wouldn't allow it.

"But you weren't. She loves Leo more than she'll ever love you. You know, its curious how quickly love can change to hate when you try to kill someone a person cares about." Chris said cockily.

"You're working with Leo aren't you? I won't allow it, and I won't allow you in my home! Piper will do what I tell her, and you will get the hell out of her life like I told you to! She needs me to think for her, to protect her, and you will not endanger my relationship! I am her perfect man, and I won't have your lies in my house!" Dan roared, apocalyptic with rage, and Chris glowered at him, bored.

"It's her house, not yours. Never will be either. She will never marry you and she certainly won't do what you tell her. And it's too late for your relationship, because it's over. She knows everything and knows how much of a jerk you truly are. Now, get out." Chris sneered, and Dan clenched his fist.

"I will not be spoken to like that! You won't take Piper away from me! I won't allow you to ruin my perfect family! Now get out of my house, get out of my life! Piper will never know what happened to you, and that's just the way it'll have to be. You won't ruin my life anymore! Get out of my life! I am perfection! She will have perfection, and for once she will do as she is told! I own her, she will do as I tell her and when I tell her to forget about you, she will! It's over boy! She chose me, not you! We will live happily together, she will never see you, Leo or Paige again, even if I have to kill them to make sure of it! She will be my wife, she will do what I tell her when I tell her, and you will not stop it!" Dan roared and sped at Chris, hands going for his throat.

And Chris flicked him backwards with his telekinesis, his anger and hatred for the man coming full force, determined to sotp this man who wanted to turn his mother into something she wasn't. Dan gave a cry of started horror as he flew back through the air, and crashed into the coffee table in the sitting room, and went still. Chris flexed his hand, ready to strike again, when Piper came out and took his hand gently, calming him.

"It's over honey. You got him." She said softly, kissing his cheek.

Blood was still thundering in his ears as Darryl came down from upstairs, and cheerfully placed handcuffs on Dan's wrists, and Dan looked at him furiously.

"Get off me! Arrest him, he's a threat to Piper!" he yelled, gesturing with his head at Chris.

"The only threat he will be is sickness and worry. Dan Gordon, you are under arrest for attempted murder." Darryl said, dragging him to the foyer while reciting his rights.

"No! You can't do this! She deserves someone like me, someone as perfect as me! Let me go!" he shouted, and at that moment Piper came and glowered at him.

"You're not perfect Dan. Given a choice between you and Paige, I would take her any day. Given a choice I'd much rather love Leo than you. And the choice between you and Chris...its a no brainer. I choose him all the way. And I deserve so much better than you. I'm dumping you. And if you ever try to hurt Chris again, I will kill you." She said, and Dan's face fell in horror.

"But Piper..."

"I hate you. I don't want to see you anymore. So get out of my life and never come back." She said, cheerful with her savagery, and Dan looked at her pleadingly, ignoring the look of triumph on Chris' face.

"But Piper, I'm perfect for you!" he protested.

"No you're not. You never were. And you never will be. Now get out of my life once and for all." She said, then froze him.

"Piper, you just froze the criminal. You can't just freeze the criminal." Darryl said, his voice stressed.

"I can when he nearly murdered my son." She said, and with great gusto, swung her foot into his groin, then unfroze him.

Dan howled in pain, and Darryl suppressed a smirk as he dragged a whimpering Dan to the door.

"Wait." Leo said, and Piper froze him again.

And Leo then punched him in the face.

"That was for my son." He spat viciously, and this time, when he unfroze, Dan was howling and crying in pain, blubbering like a pathetic baby while Darryl dragged him down the stairs and forced him into his car.

"Bye Dan! Don't bother to write!" Piper called cheerfully.

"Yeah, enjoy prison!" Leo called.

"And my paper is going to do a huge expose on what a scumbag you are!" Phoebe shouted.

"Oh, and we're getting your brother fired too!" Paige added cheerfully.

"Good riddance." Chris said triumphantly as the car disappeared, Darryl honking happily.

"Now...we've got a lot of explaining to do." Piper said, and took Chris' arm and led him through to the sitting room with the rest of his family.

XX

A week later, the report was all over the news that Dan Gordon, subject of an attempted murder charge, was now being transferred to a secure facility due to mental health problems, as he continuously claimed to being haunted by three malevolent spirits. Little did he know that the three said spirits were the one he'd tried to murder's incredibly angry and unforgiving aunt, grandmother and great grandmother, who took great delight in torturing him mentally, driving him to the edge of insanity, all the while with him claiming he was 'perfect' and didn't deserve it.

"Thanks guys." Piper said, looking to the heavens.

The family was sitting at the table enjoying a late breakfast, which Chris had made, which, after a week, she supposed was his way of letting them know he forgave her for what she had said to him.

"Ooh pancakes." Paige said in delight, stacking several onto her plate.

"Nah, homemade bagels. Made all the sweeter because I am now two grand richer." Phoebe said, delighted that the lawsuit had come through and had won her a payout for libel.

"Nah, give me sausage, bacon and egg any day." Victor said, tucking in with reckless abandon.

"Chris, this is great." Leo said, tucking into his omelette.

"I learned from the best." Chris said with a smile as he opened up the poached egg over his kedgeree.

"She must be very good." Piper said with a small smile, feeding scrambled eggs to Wyatt with one hand while tackling her eggs Benedict with another.

"Mmm, Chris, you need to tell Sheila how to make this, she never gets it just right." Darryl said as he tucked into his own fried bread with an egg in the middle, with homemade waffles.

"You almost feel sorry for Dan, with Prue, Grams and Grandma terrorising him." Chris said as he looked at the paper.

"You don't feel sorry for him do you?" Victor asked, chewing on a bit sausage.

"Hell no. He deserves everything he gets and more. That'll teach him to piss off a family of witches." Chris said, and Piper looked across at her son.

He'd done so much, trying to protect his family, trying to protect his brother, and even her from a lousy guy. And she had continually pushed him away. But that was changing now. They knew who he was, he was her little boy, and as they got to know him, it became more and more apparent how like she and Prue that he was. And the fact that he was a great cook made her heart swell with pride. He was a true Halliwell, and he was her son, a mini male version of her. She couldn't be more proud of him, she thought, as she watched him give Wyatt some of his poached egg, which of course he took an immediate liking to.

Piper smiled. Yeah, he had some problems, and it was clear that what she had said to him all this time and when she had thrown him out still haunted him. But those wounds were healing, and they were becoming a true family.

And it was as close to perfect as she could ever want, she thought, her eyes fixed on her little boy, happy that she could get to know Chris at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of the first part of this series!  
> As I said, I wrote this many moons ago, but I hope you enjoyed it, I'll post the next section tomorrow, and if you enjoyed it, please either kudos or comment and thank you for reading! I did enjoy writing this back in the day, and still enjoy the still ongoing series that I have to finish so hope you keep reading, and many thanks again!


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